Cowardly Lion
by Knight Of Balance
Summary: He was scared. He was always scared, from that fateful day onward. But, he wasn't going to let that stop him anymore. The story o Taiyang Xiao Long. His childhood, his time at Beacon Academy and him becoming a father.
1. Chapter 1

**Cowardly Lion**

 **Summary: He was scared. That was nothing new. Ever since he came into the world, he was always scared. From day one to now, he lived in fear. However, he wouldn't let it control him. Not when he has people he needs to protect.**  
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 _Fear_

It was a feeling Taiyang Xiao Long was very familiar with, having tangled with the sly devil ever since childhood. He didn't have a very good home life when he was young. His father was a former Hunter who had lost his leg and an eye in an accident while protecting a shipment of Dust, forcing him to switch jobs to private security. He was also an aloof father and husband who never seemed to have time for his own family, barely even acknowledging his own flesh and blood whenever they called upon him and did the bare minimum. However, that was nothing compared to what his mother was like, a depressed homemaker who, in hindsight, drank a lot and let out her frustrations about her life on her son. Because of this, Taiyang lived in constant fear of when he would be subjected to a session of angry slurring from his mother, if not a broom to the backside. The only found memories he had of back then where those of his grandfather, Helios Xiao Long. Tall, strong, fearless but kind, caring and even gentle, the man always showered him in love, taking him to see new places in town, reading stories of noble warriors fending off the forces of Grimm to him, letting him climb up trees then catching him as he fell. Whenever his grandfather was around, he could laugh, cry and smile all he wanted, he could feel something other than fear. Alas, at the end of the day, the illusion would shatter and he would be back at home, feeling nothing but fear all over again. Then came the fateful day. Although it happened decades ago, he could still remember it as clearly as yesterday.

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He was about seven years old at the time, not too long after starting school, having woken up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare. Even more scared than usual, Taiyang had crawled out of his bed and made his way to his parent's room. As soon as he made it there though, he heard the familiar sound of his mother's screeching and his father's apathetic grunts, signaling another fight between them. Although he wanted nothing more than to run, run and hide from the fight, he stayed rooted in place as he looked through a crack in the door, witnessing the events that would change his life forever.

"You useless sack of crap!" She screamed, her speech slightly slurred no doubt from the missing alocohol from the scotch bottle she was holding, "Everyday, all you do is sit in front of that TV. Every single day, no matter how much I tell you to get your lazy, fat ass up and help me. When was the last time you ever did any housework, huh? Cleaned a dish or picked up your fucking trash? Remember how to do any of those things?"

"Apparently not," his father responded dully, looking off to the side as his mother shambled over and circled him, spitting out more and more spiteful and angry words while Taiyang stood there, his feet rooted in fear of the familiar scene.

"You're a piece of work, aren't you? While I, your own wife, is wasting away trying to make a good home for you, cooking to feed you, cleaning your clothes for you, you just sit there and do nothing. I toil away and you do nothing. Do you even care anymore?" She declared, circling him around and around, try to elicit a response beyond a grunt or a look. That was not the case as the man simply responded only with a roll of the eyes. With a particularly loud scream, she raised her liquor bottle and smashed it straight into the back of the man's head, his Aura barely able to block the blow. The man stumbled around, reeling from the impact of the blow. While he did, the woman strutted over to the closet and took out a big, shotgun-like weapon. The man had only enough time to recognize the weapon and his face to contort into a look of surprise until she pulled the trigger, engulfing the man in a blast of fiery Dust.

Taiyang let out a yelp, which didn't go unnoticed by the murderer, glaring at the crack in the door. She turned the door and raised her firearm, which caused Taiyang to turn tail and run, run as fast as his short legs could carry him. He raced around the house, the fear of ending up like his father fueling his escape. Running through the kitchen, Taiyang noticed a scroll on top of a table. While running by, he quickly grabbed the scroll and continued running. He scampered downstairs and found the small alcove between the washing machine and the wall, an area he used to hide from his mom when things like this happened. Fitting himself snugly in the area, he fumbled with the scroll until managed to dial the number of his grandfather. The frightened child held the phone up to his ear, praying that the person on the other side picked up with each ring being a painful stab to the heart.

After the third ring, a tired voice yawned, _'What is it?'_

"Grandpa!" He cried, fear echoing in his voice.

" _Taiyang, what's wrong?"_ Helios asked, his once drowsy voice now alert, _"What's going on? Why are you calling from your father's scroll?"_

"M-mommy and daddy were fighting," he explained, "Th-then mommy hit daddy with a bottle and th-then she got daddy's shotgun and-and-and," Taiyang gasped for air as the brutal scene replayed in his head.

" _What? What did she do?"_ The old man demanded, panic bubbling beneath the surface from his side.

"She-she-she...shot him!" He answered, sobbing afterward, "I'm scared, Grandpa. Mommy's going to-"

" _No."_ He heard the man say on the other side, his voice firm with conviction and determination, _"She's not going to hurt you. Listen Tai, I'm coming over right away so I'll be there soon. Until then , hide. Hide somewhere she can't find you. I will find you."_ Before he could answer, the scroll beeped and the line went dead. Now alone, cold, sleepy and scared nigh beyond rational thought, Taiyang curled himself up as small as he could, begging and pleading that his mother wouldn't find him. He stayed like this, waiting in the cold, in the darkness, holding onto the glimmer of hope that his grandfather would make it there soon. However, as he waited in the darkness, he could hear the footsteps of his hunter above, calling out to him and yelling sickly sweet words of comfort, no doubt to lure him into the open for an easy kill. Even so, the child was very tempted to do as she asked in the vain hope that she could provide him with warmth and safety. The only thing that kept him from doing so, however, was the promise of his grandfather taking care of the problem. But even with that hope in mind, it did nothing to soothe the sadness nor the fear that consumed him.

He didn't know when it happened but eventually sleep must have overtaken him as one minute he was huddled in the dark as his mother's footsteps ringing out above him, the next he saw someone above him, shaking him awake. Taiyang opened his eyes in panic, expecting to see the woman who gave him life promptly take it back, fortunately met with the sight of a familiar man looking down at him with kind if not sad eyes.

"Gr-grandpa?" He said.

"Yes Tai, I'm here." The old man assured, pulling him out of the hiding spot. Taiyang squeaked in fear, calmed a second later by a firm hand to the shoulder and a soft a smile, "Don't worry, everything's fine. Your mother can't hurt you anymore." He finished drawing his grandson from the hiding spot, held him close by and carried him out of the house.

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After that, Taiyang memory was a bit fuzzy. He remembered his mother's trial, where she was sentenced to life in jail for his father's murder. He also remembered his grandfather taking custody of him and putting a restraining order on his mother, ensuring she would never come near him. Even with all of these comforts, Taiyang couldn't return to his normal life Every night, he was haunted by feelings of fear and powerlessness from that night, tormenting him in his sleep until he woke up screaming bloody murder. With each and everyone of these outbursts, Helios ran to his side and held his hand, comforting him and assuring that what had happened would never happen again. Even with these words delivered to him every night, they did nothing to stop the terrors that visited every night.

The days weren't much better. Even though he stayed by his side for weeks, His grandfather had to go out and take local missions in order to pay expenses and with the addition of another mouth to feed, Helios couldn't allow himself too much time off so he had to re-enroll his family in school. Even after all that time, Taiyang did poorly there, constant plagued by sleepiness and fits of fear that caused him to huddle himself in the classroom corner. Soon, the teacher contacted Helios and told him of this, causing the man even greater sorrow. At the end of the day, Helios sat his grandson down for a talk.

"Tai," He said, sitting down in front of him, "We need to talk." The boy didn't respond, simply looking up at his grandfather, "Tai, I know things have been hard on you these past few weeks and I know you've been doing your best to move forward." He stated, looking into his grandson's eyes, filled with varies shades of panic, despair, powerlessness and terror, no doubt breaking his old heart, "But I also know you haven't made any progress."

"Tai, I know how you feel right now." The look in the boy's eyes shifted slightly, allowing surprise to enter in, "Well, not exactly. I had a good home and loving parents. I never had to face the exact challenges you have. But, I do know what it's like to feel fear and to feel helpless, to feel like nothing could ever go your way no matter how much you try." he leaned forward, close enough for Taiyang to see just how old his grandfather truly was, behind his vibrancy and physic, "I know that you're just learning about the Great War, about how we rose up against those oppressed us and fought for our freedom. What they will never teach you, however, was what it was like to live in that world, the world we fought to tear down. And I don't blame them, it was a cold, hopeless, desolate world where all one could hope to do was get up, go to work, eat then sleep then do the same thing, over and over again until the day you die. There was no laughter, no music, no art, no soul in that world. All that existed there was despair and fear. I know this because, as you probably can tell, I lived in that world, I felt the same way you did everyday: fear of being at the mercy of a cruel world and powerless to stop it. That is, before I enlisted with the Resistance, before I fought in the Great War."

"You...fought?" Taiyang whispered, his surprise increasing as well as a new sense of awe awakened inside of him.

Helios smiled at him, "Yes Tai, I fought in the Great War. I was only about seventeen at the time and the war had been going on for quite some time, ever since I was about your age. Anyway, I was just walking home from doing some errands when some government soldiers stopped me on my way. As it turned out, it was past curfew and I was still out. At the time, with the kingdom at such a volatile state, being out past curfew meant death." Taiyang squealed again, causing the man to pat his shoulder comfortingly, "Tai, if I were to die in the story, how would I be here? … Right, so as I was saying, the soldiers were taking me into custody to schedule me for an execution when suddenly, a woman wielding a sword and shield leaped from the shadows and cut down the soldiers, saving my life. Her name was Johanna and she was a member of the Resistance, getting some intel from a local informant. As she walked away, I asked her a question: 'Why are you fighting?'"

"Why did you ask that?" The boy himself asked.

"Because, at the time, the Resistance didn't make sense to me. As bad as that life was, it was the only one knew of that the time so trading that cold but comfortable life for one of strife and death really confused me. She turned, looked at me square in the eye and said: 'Because we're afraid.'"

"Huh?"

"You see, Tai, fear isn't something you should run from nor is it something you should let dictate your life. Although it can be used to make some men run and make other men be controlled, Fear should be used to make you move forward, to fight and struggle against what you're afraid of so that you can show that it doesn't control you nor does it make you turn tail and run. In doing so, you can take control of your life, you can have the power to change things for the better."

Taiyang said nothing, letting his grandfather's words sink into him before speaking, "But grampa, what if I can't do that? What if I can't face fear? What if-"

"Tai," He said firmly, allowing no more room argument, "From the first moment you came into this world, you are strong. I've seen people with lives better than yours fail to stand up to their fear. Taiyang, you are far stronger than you think and I can prove it.'

"How?" He asked.

"Simple, I'm going to teach you how to fight." Helios answered, making Taiyang look up at him curiously, "Well, the reason you're afraid is because you feel powerless to stop people from harming you, right?" The blonde looked to the side, his silence answer enough, "Well, I'm going to teach you how to protect yourself so you don't have to worry about that ever again. Not only that, it'll be a good way to work out any anger you've got. Now come on, let's get to training!"

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From that day forward, Taiyang's grandfather dedicated every second he could spare to both teaching his grandson how to fight and bolstering his courage. Every day, the moment Taiyang had finished his homework, Helios would take him down to the basement where various pieces of workout equipment lied, ranging from dumbbells to punching bags, and taught him the basics of brawling, the form of fighting that got him through his old war days. At first it was simple stuff, like lifting dumbbells or throwing a few punches at the punching bag, nothing too complicated. While he worked out and trained, his trainer would gave out words of encouragement, telling him about how well he was doing and how strong he was getting. Taiyang had thought nothing of the words but over time he did notice he was getting stronger. Dumbbells that he once struggled to lift he now lifted with ease and his once clumsy and feeble strikes now struck strong and true, a fact that he admitted did give him some confidence. Enough that he was able to get through the days at school without any panic attacks or flashes of that night.

The nighttime was still very awful. Although they had decreased in frequency, the nightmares came nonetheless and he still awoke screaming and crying. In turn, Helios would stay by his side, speaking to him in a calm, soothing tone, even cracking a few bad puns to get a laugh out of him, until he fell back asleep. And as the months and years passed him by, the nightmares continued to appear less and less until they were nothing more than a terrible memory, as they should be.

In the meantime, Taiyang had grown strong enough to graduate from lifting dumbbells and punching sandbags to actually sparring with his grandfather as he taught him more and more complex techniques. Things went about as well as one would think having a pre-teen fight an old veteran, with their first sparring match lasting about a minute. This didn't stop Taiyang, who kept on fighting and trying his hardest, listening closely to each and every piece of advice the man had for him. And with each and every training session, he got a little better and better.

During these training sessions, Helios would motivate him with stories from his old days, telling him tales about how he and his fellow comrades fought against the oppressive government, detailing battles that he had heard of in class but only in passing. Eventually, Helios told him of the glorious day when they had overthrown the government that had dictated them for so long. However, that had also meant that Helios and the remaining soldiers were out of a job and forced to rejoin civilian life. Luckily, there was one field of work that they could apply their skills: Huntsman.

"Huntsman?" A thirteen year old Taiyang asked his grandfather, "What's that?"

Helios chuckled, taking a drink of water from his water bottle before answering, "Haven't been paying close attention in class, huh boy?" The blue-eyed pre-teen flushed in embarrassment, focusing his attention on the floor instead, "Anyway, you know what Grimm are, right?" Taiyang nodded, allowing him to continue, "Well, Huntsman are the people who fight the Grimm, who keep the rest of humanity safe by saving people and killing Grimm."

"Is it any different from being a soldier?" Taiyang asked him.

Helios shrugged "Not really. You go from protecting people from other people to protecting people from giant demonic animals. Same amount of reward, same amount of stress, same amount of risk. It quickly teaches you not to sweat the small stuff." The younger male gave him a questioningly look, "Well, as you should probably know by now, the creatures of Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, sadness, anger, worry and fear, it's like candy for them. If you hunt them, you have to learn to control your emotions."

"You mean learn to not feel those things." Taiyang said, causing a frown to appear on his grandfather's face.

"No Tai, I don't mean that." he corrected crossly, giving him a firm look. "You can't just lock away your emotions, that's just another way they control you. No, to be a Hunter you not only need to learn to embrace things like anger and fear but also know how to direct them towards something positive, it's easy to lose yourself in those emotions and do things you never should." Helios got up from the bench and gestured for his grandson to follow, which he dutifully did.

The next day, Taiyang had walked down to the store, picking up a few essentials missing from the house, before walking back, humming along the way. As he did so, the teen heard a loud yelp followed by deep, terrifying roar. This caused Taiyang to freeze in place, a lucky event as it happened as a small child appeared around the street corner, followed close behind by what appeared to be the biggest, blackest, deadliest-looking bear had ever seen. Deep in his panic stricken mind, the brawler noted both the glowing red eyes that caused great fear even though they weren't focused on him and the white, almost bone-like protrusions coming out of the bear. This allowed him to identify the bear as a Grimm, an Ursa if he remembered correctly. Whatever it maybe, it seemed to have found it's way inside the city's walls and was now hunting down the small child.

Said child ran behind Taiyang, pleading with him to save him from the Grimm. He looked behind him, barely registering the child before feeling a sickening shadow cast itself over him. Looking up, he had only enough time to see a giant black paw raised above him before he was sent flying across the street and into a brick wall, the impact rattling his entire skeleton before he fell to the ground. Taiyang looked up from his fallen position, watching as the Ursa growled and roared at him, as if challenging him to get back up. Meet with no response, The Ursa turned back around headed toward the child with hunger in it's glowing eyes.

"H-help!" The boy cried out, drawing Taiyang's attention toward him then back to the Grimm.

The frightened brawler stared at the Ursa, trying to find away to stop it. There was no police around here otherwise they would have come running at the sound of the child yelling for help. No one in the houses around them would help as it was damn near tantamount to suicide fighting a Grimm unarmed and under skilled. And the closest Hunter around was his grandfather, a few blocks away. That left only him, Taiyang Xiao Long, to save the little boy.

But what could he do? The Ursa was faster than it let on so grabbing the child and running wasn't an option and running to go get his grandfather would just leave the child at the Grimm's mercy. The only real option was to fight it and, in all honesty, it scared the ever loving crap out of him. There was no chance in Grimm that he could defeat something that fast and that strong. No, he knew that the best option was to find help, even if it meant leaving the child. That was the smart thing to-

"Help please!" The child cried out again, scurrying back as the Ursa snapped at him, savoring the sweet sounds of his screams. The bear-like creature swiped at him again, making him yelp.

Taiyang couldn't leave the child. Soon the Ursa would stop playing around and just eat him. He needed to fight. And yet, he didn't rise up, most likely due to the fact that his fear was still weighing him down. Thinking back to what his grandfather said, what he has always said, the brawler slowly rose up from the concrete, his breath ragged, his heart pounding like crazy and sweat streaming from every pour. Channeling all his fear; his fear of death, his fear of leaving his grandfather, his fear of the Ursa, his fear of how powerless he was in comparison and his fear of losing the child while he did nothing, Taiyang felt a burst of power run through him as he leaped into action and struck the Grimm, causing it to tumble over onto it's side. He then moved himself in front of the child and raised his arms in a defensive stance. The Ursa rolled back onto it's feet and let out another roar that rattled his bones. Though in complete terror, Taiyang stood his ground against the mighty creature.

Whipping his head around, the fighter yelled, "What are you waiting for? Run!" The child nodded, scrambled to his feet and ran off, no doubt to find help. Turning back around, he saw the Ursa charge straight at him. He leaped to the side in response, acting on six years of combat training, resulting in the pseudo-bear's swipe to miss it's target. Not wanting to miss an opening, he stomped forward and delivered a straight punch with his right arm which sent the Ursa tumbling back again. Only this time, The Ursa recovered more quicker than before, getting back into it's feet and closed the distance between them to swipe at him. Taiyang raised his arm to block the attack and the paw connected with his arm. Surprisingly, the attack didn't seem to be as strong as before and he wasn't sent flying this time. Unconcerned by this, Taiyang punched the monster in the underbelly, sending it flying back into the pavement around them.

The Ursa rose up again, shaking off the pain and eyed him suspiciously. The two of them locked eyes and the two circled each other, patiently waiting for the other to make a move. Soon, the Ursa got impatient and charged him again. This time, Taiyang didn't move out of the way, instead he drew his fist back. Taking careful aim and timing, Taiyang slammed his fist into the monster's face. While the skull-like helmet blocked most of the blow, it still left the the Grimm dizzy and disoriented, a condition he took advantage of and hit the bear-like monster with a barrage of quick jabs to the face, bouncing the creature's brain around in it's skull. Taiyang bounced back, panting heavily from the attacks he delivered . The Ursa stumbled around a bit before regaining full control of it's senses and attacking Taiyang again, this time being smart enough to stop outside his attack range and sending him flying with a single swing of it's arm.

The stupid brawler tumbled across the concrete for a few seconds before skidding to a halt. Despite this, he stood right back up, surprised that his body wasn't screaming in pain from the blow. He looked the monster straight in the eye and, if he didn't know any better, saw a smug look in it's eyes. "That was a _bear_ -rible attack." He joked, using the humor to keep his fear from making him run, "My situation isn't as _Grimm_ as it seems." Taiyang leaped back into battle, slugging it in the face again with enough force to send it tumbling over onto it's back. He took advantage of this, elbowing and punching the Grimm repeatedly in the stomach and sides as fast as he could. The brawler tried backing away as it got back up but then the Ursa grabbed a hold of him with it's powerful jaws. It sank it's teeth into him enough to hook him in before sending him flying again with a toss of his head. Taiyang flew through the air, stopped only when he crashed into a fence in a nearby ally, taking. He got up, groaning and aching from the throw. He looked over at the Grimm, who seemed to be waiting for him to attack. He looked around, trying to find something that would help him fend off the creature, until he spotted the down fence.

After a minute or two waiting, The frightened fighter flung himself at the monster, barbed wire wrapped around his fists. He slammed his fist down into the beast, forcing it into the concrete and hard. He bounced off the face of the Ursa, landing a few feet away while it recovered from the attack. He ran up to it again, giving it a few strong strike to the jaw and one from below with an uppercut. The Ursa retaliated with a strong swipe, which Taiyang braced himself for and endured. He struck the monster again in the jaw, leaping around to the side and hitting it several times there. The monster whipped around to snap at him only to be greeted with a hook to it's jaw. The blue-eyed teen delivered another barrage of jabs to the head before hitting it with a powerful uppercut, strong enough to force it up, exposing it's underbelly. With a mighty roar, he stepped forward and drove his fist into the stomach of the Ursa with so much force he embedded his fist inside of it, causing blood to ooze from it's body and the dark light in it's eyes to thankfully peter out. He removed his arm from the now dead Grimm, making it fall with ungraceful thud. Taiyang stood there, admiring his handy work before the pain from the fight caught up to him and the world turned dark.

When Taiyang opened his eyes, he was laying on a hospital bed with his grandfather looking over him with an exhausted but relieved look in his eyes. "Oh Tai, you had me so worried." he said, wrapping his arms around the injured teen, who returned the embrace gladly. 'What were you thinking, fighting an Ursa? Do you know how easily you could died?"

The teen chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I do. But I had to fight. If I didn't, a little boy would have died." Taiyang's eyes widened and he drew away, "Wait, what happened to the boy? Is he okay?"

The older male smiled with a bit of pride shining in his eyes, "Yes Taiyang, he's fine. He was actually the one who got the police but by the time they made it, the Ursa was already dead and disappearing and they found you unconscious, probably from the fight. They brought you here to be treated and contacted me." He teared up and wiped away the stinging liquid from his eyes, making Taiyang feel rather guilty. While he was caught up in the moment of saving the boy, he didn't think about what this could have done to his grandfather.

The man wiped away his tears, "Anyway, while I'm happy your safe and proud you saved that boy, _**never**_ do something like that ever again."

Just as Taiyang was going to say something, a nurse knocked on the door, drawing both of their attentions. "Excuse me but some one's here to see Mr. Xiao Long."

"You'll have to be a bit more specific, we're both Mr. Xiao Long." Helios said. The nurse pointed at the teen in the bed, "Okay send them in."

The nurse nodded and said something to a person waiting out on the hall. She moved away, allowing the boy from before and who appeared to be his mother to walk in. Both of them approached the bed with Helios moving aside to give them room.

"Are you the person who saved my son?" The woman asked. As soon as Taiyang nodded, the women embraced him. He blinked in response, unable to think of anything to say before the woman spoke again, "Thank you, thank you so much. If anything happened to my precious boy, I would never have been able to forgive myself!" The teen smiled, wrapping his arms around her and patting her back. As she drew away, her son walked up to Taiyang, looking up at him with a look of awe and gratitude.

"What you did back there was so cool!" He cheered happily, "With the punching and jumping and all the glowing and sparks!"

Helios leaned forward, looking at him inquisitively, "Glowing? Sparks?" He asked.

The boy nodded furiously, "Yeah! He was glowing yellow and there was sparks coming off him! It was so cool!" The teen tilted his head to the side, trying to remember what he was talking about while his grandfather frowned, as though he knew something.

The mother laughed at her son's enthusiasm, "Well, I guess we should leave now. Let you rest up. Thank you again for saving my son." She said, pulling her son away from the teen and out of the hospital. As he watched them go, Taiyang felt a feeling of happiness and pride, knowing that they were happy and healthy because of him, that they didn't suffer because of him.

Looking to his grampa, he said, "Grampa?"

"Hm? What is it, Tai?"

He took a deep breath and said, "I want to become a Hunter."  
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Taiyang's journey to becoming a Hunter was fraught with trouble. The first obstacle was his grandfather, who insisted that he take on any, _any_ other profession besides Hunter. Not only was it incredibly dangerous, with even the strongest and the best of Hunters risking their lives each and every time they went out on a mission, and the fact that the job was wracked with misery and regret but Taiyang, having been through a bout of depression, would have it even worse than most as he would reek of negative emotion, attracting powerful and deadly Grimm. However, even with all this knowledge, he never budged an inch and kept asking his grandfather to allow him. Eventually, Helios realized that his grandson wouldn't stop until he became a Hunter and agreed to enlisted him in one of the many training schools across Vale.

His second obstacle was the intense training. Even though he had some experience in fighting thanks to his grandfather, the training to become a Hunter was unlike anything he experienced. Each and every day he was forced to his limits both mentally and physically, not to mention the training he had with Helios who also forced it up several notches to toughen up his grandson. At first, this was excruciating and damn near painful, pushing himself so hard that he ached every day without fail and he could barely conjure up a coherent thought. But as time went on, things became less and less hard as he adapted to the rigorous schedule, becoming stronger and stronger until he could take on the best in in his class and stand his own ground.

Speaking of his classmates, Taiyang had to work extra hard as he soon found out, many of them had already unlocked their Aura and figured out their Semblances wheres barely had a grasp on his own ability. So he was forced to take remedial classes to learn more about Aura and find out about his Semblance. Although it wasn't as hard as his other obstacles, it was still quite the pain to catch up. However, he soon caught up to his peers as he unlocked his Aura and began working in his Semblance, which he learned allowed him to endure far more damage than his peers, a fact that worked very well with his fighting style.

Lastly, he had to convince his teachers that, despite his history with it, Taiyang no longer had a problem with his mental health. Due to the danger that those with mental disease and issues posed in the field, Hunters were screened very closely for those sort of things. With him, all it took was five minutes before they figured out about the events in his family and the effects it had on him. He would normally be rejected immediately but his grandfather quickly jumped to his defense, fighting to give him a chance. After a battle with the determined old veteran, the academy did eventually relent and let him in. However they did inform him the instant they thought he was a liability to his classmates, they'd kick him out without hesitation or remorse. So each time they trained and fought, Taiyang had to keep his fear under control, leaping into battle so that he didn't start running away; making jokes and puns to hide the quivering in his voice. Before he knew it, those worries had long since faded and he was nominated for Beacon, one of the most prestigious Huntsman academies in all of Remnant.

The day before he was to leave for Beacon, his grandfather lead him down to their basement for one last spar, one last battle to share with each other before he left. Unlike every other spar he had with the man, Helios held nothing back, even using his old brass knuckles. In return, Taiyang was using his gauntlets, the Thunder Eiris. The two traded blows for what seemed like hours and hours, their natural endurance and skill in brawling leading to both of them being evenly matched in almost every aspect. The sounds of metal against Aura rang throughout the old house as they fought, both of them too invested to give an inch. Even so, the two of them couldn't be happier, laughing and smiling despite the punches and pain, the memories of their bonding rising to the surface of their minds as they fought on and on.

Finally, after their Aura had long since been drained and they had suffered quite a few bruises and scraps, their battle had finally neared it's end with the both of them bloody and sweaty. Taiyang stood opposite of his grandfather, his breath labored and heavy from the long battle. Determined to finally win, Taiyang drew on the power deep within him, feeling it burning and bubble as it grew inside him. A few seconds later, the power burst forth in the form of a bright light and a cloak of bright yellow fire covering his body from head to toe. With his ace in the hole ready and the battle basically his, Taiyang leaped forward and struck at his opponent with a strike to the face. The older man dodged to the right, causing the punch to miss and giving him an opening,which he took advantage of and delivered a punch to his ribs. Even so, his Semblance absorbed a good chunk of the damage and dulled the pain from the rest, so he was able to whip around his grandfather and strike at his back. As soon as the punch connected, Helios turned around, using his momentum to strike him in the face, the blow being repeated with the younger male punching him in the face. Then Taiyang kicked him away with a quick blow to his stomach. The both them locked eyes and an agreement passed between them: This was the last blow.

The two of them dashed at each other, fists raised and teeth grit. Helios flung the first blow, pouring all of his remaining strength into the attack. Taiyang ducked under the attack and followed up with a quick, powerful uppercut to his jaw, sending the man into the air and falling onto the hard ground. He grunted as he shifted up, seeing his grandson standing above him with a fist raised triumphantly, a fact that Helios smiled proudly at.

Later, the two of them sat side by side, resting from the harsh battle. As they did, Taiyang felt his grandfather pat him on the back, making him swell with pride. "Thanks Grampa."

Helios let out a hearty laugh, "You earned it, Tai. That battle was pretty fly."

The young man face palmed in embarrassment as he processed the joke while his elder simply grinned, "You're never going to stop with those jokes, are you?"

"Until the day I die!" He cheered, pounding his chest proudly. The Hunter-to-be just shook his head at his grandfather's lame joke. The two of them just sat in silence, enjoying each other's company for the last time in what could be months. Helios broke the silence again, this time with a proud and almost wishful tone. "My grandson, going off to Beacon. You know, when I took you in all those years ago, I would have never thought that scared little boy would become a Huntsman-to-be getting into Beacon!"

Taiyang blushed in embarrassment at his grandfather's prideful talk, "Grampa, you're embarrassing me."

"But it's true," Helios assured him, drawing him in close for a hug, "Taiyang, you've grown so much these past few years. You're no longer that scared little boy who lost his parents nor are you that weak boy who would suffer panic attacks in school. Now, you're a strong, brave man now, stronger than anyone I've ever known."

"Well, not everyone," The young man stated, "I know I'm not stronger than you."

Hearing this, Helios laughed out loud, which echoed throughout the house, "Tai, when I was your age, I couldn't even imagine handling the things you've overcome. I could never handle losing my parents or handle those panic attacks. Especially as well as you have."

"Well, all I did was follow your advice. Besides, you're a war veteran. I think that counts for something." He countered.

"Taiyang, it took me years to follow the advice I gave you. Before that, I couldn't stop myself from running and I was older than you. And for a few years after the war, I-I just couldn't handle the return to civilian life. Not after what I had seen and what I had experienced." He shook his head in shame, "To this very day, my first answer to most problems is to punch them. You actually made something out of that Tai, and I'm proud of you for that."

"I-I guess I'm stronger than I think." he admitted, his blush intensifying.

"Yes you are." Helios agreed, tightening his hug, "Tai, I want you to know something." The younger brawler looked up, seeing nothing but pride and love in his grandfather's eyes, "I want you to know that no matter what happens or what you do, I will always be proud of you."

"Th-thanks, Grampa." he said tearfully, returning his hug full force.

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The next day, Taiyang left for Beacon with his grandfather calling out to him, congratulating him and yelling out farewells as he boarded the Bullhead. Once aboard, he looked out of the window, watching as everything he knew gradually get smaller and smaller until they were out of sight. He felt a small bit of home sickness as well as an even greater feeling of terror, seeing everything disappear before him. The place he had called home for so long and the man who had always been there for him even in the darkest of times. Even so, that meant he was on his way to becoming a full fledged Hunter. He let out a loud cheer, flinging his arms into the air in excitement, accidentally hitting the guy standing next to him.

"Ow!" The teen exclaimed, rubbing his injured cheek. The blonde brawler chuckled nervously as the other male glared over at him, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about that."

"What the hell is your problem?" The other teen yelled, getting in his face. The teen wasn't too threatening, with a thin, lanky frame draped by a raggedy looking grey shirt, even the black trimmings looked like they were done in about a minute. The pale skin may have been a bit off putting if not for the messy black hair he sported, giving him the overall look of a man who just got out of bed. The only vaguely scary part of him was his piercing red eyes, which currently bore into his own.

Taiyang shot his arms into the air, showing his palms in defeat, "I said I was sorry!"

"Well, instead of being 'sorry,'" The teen said, putting air quotes around the word "Sorry", "You should look out before punching people in the face!"

"It was an accident!" He defended, leaning back and raising his arms up. In response, the teen ground his heel into the brawler's foot, which would have hurt had Taiyang not suffered far worse. Instead he simply tried walking away, his turning around knocking the other teen aside by mistake. Now looking furious, the teen flipped onto his feet, drawing his weapon which appeared to be a big longsword with red accents. He pushed the blade up to his throat with a fierce glare and snarl on his face while Taiyang went from surprised to scared, his eyes tracing the blade. Scared out of his mind, he did the first thing that came to mind.

"That sure is a nice broad." He joked, using the humor to mask the ever-growing fear within him. It also confused the teen with the sword, who just stood there in silence, trying to process what he said.

"... what?" The teen said, completely caught off guard.

"I said you've got a nice broad: thick, heavy, pretty." he continued, silently praying to every deity he could think of that this won't get him killed, "maybe you could introduce me to one of your broad's friends?"

The teen blinked again, trying to comprehend what he was saying before realization hit him. Groaning loudly at the pun, he lowered his weapon, allowing Taiyang to let out a sigh he had been holding in. "Okay listen up, as much as I want to gut you like a fish, I'm pretty sure the teachers would look down on that. So here's the deal: You take that side of the ship and I'll take this side," The teen ordered, cutting the air between them to emphasize what he was saying.

In response, the blue-eyed joker relaxed, smiled and winked, "Sure thing, on one condition-"

"No." The teen answered him immediately.

"Okay, so do you know why the chicken crossed the road?"

The teen sighed, slamming his head into his hand, "Fine, what do you want?"

"Your name," He asked. They may have gotten off on the wrong foot but he was really desperate for a friend or acquittance or a truce, anything to help deal with his time at school. "Mine's Taiyang Xiao Long."

"A stupid name for an equally stupid person," The red-eyed male groaned and Taiyang wouldn't deny the fact that barb did hurt a little, "Qrow Brawen. Now," he jabbed his finger against the fighter's chest, "Get out of my face!"

"I'll zit away!" He commented, causing an almost painful groan from Qrow as he sauntered away with a cheerful smile.

"If I see him again in this lifetime, it'll be too soon." Qrow said, walking to the other side of the ship.  
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Upon reaching Beacon, Taiyang ran out of the Bullhead as fast as he could in excitement, racing toward the school as fats as he could so he could explore the new area. So caught up in his excitement he was that the blue-eyed Huntsman in training that he collide straight into someone. Taiyang stumbled backward, nearly falling to the ground in surprise while the person he crashed into only stepped to the side, almost as though they were unaffected by sudden collision.

The brown-clothed male regained his balance and looked over to the person he had crashed into, opening his mouth to apologize to them but stopped as his words petered out and disappeared in his throat. The person he crashed into was, in his opinion at least, a drop dead gorgeous woman with long, luscious ebony locks tied up in a giant ponytail which was accented by her flawless, pale skin. Her striking and somehow familiar red bore into him, analyzing his very soul. Her attire consisted of a short, robe-like shirt with swirling shades of red and black, a short black skirt that showed off her round derriere, accompanied by same colored stockings and shoes that adorned her strong, beautiful legs.

Taiyang would have just stood there, dumfounded and tongued tied if the women hadn't slashed at him with a red katanna. The brawler leaped back in time to avoid serious injury but his clothes couldn't avoid it, jacket getting both cut and singed by the strike. He held up his hands for the second time that day as fear began rising up in his throat again. She ignored him and struck again, this time aiming at his head. He dodged the sword again, fear growing again. Seeing no other way out, Taiyang used this as an opportunity to strike, throwing a quick punch to her face. She cocked her head to the side nonchalantly, causing his swing to miss. The swordswoman whipped around him, cutting his back. He felt a burning pain shoot from the slash, notifying him that the woman was using Dust. Gulping down a ball of terror, Taiyang flipped around and struck his opponent, the force from the blow forcing to adjust her stance against it but nothing else. She retaliated with a handful of graceful cuts and slashes, which he was able to dodge for the most part, each blow that did land burned him a bit more. Seeing an opening, he caught the blade in his hand, something so out of left field that the woman couldn't mask her surprised. The fearful brawler let out a cry, striking at the woman from below with a powerful uppercut, sending her flying into the air and onto the ground.

Taiyang groaned, looking down at his opponent with a careful eye. He knew better than to just assume his opponent was down from just a few attacks. True to what he thought, the blade wielding woman rose up from her spot, dusting her clothes off and glaring at him coldly. She pointed her sword at him, a harsh light emitting from it, causing a surge of fear and, oddly enough, excitement to ripple throughout him. Before they could re-engage in the fight, the two of them were interrupted by a man's voice crying out, "Oh for Oum's sake!"

Taiyang whipped his head around, seeing the teen that had attacked him on the Bullhead, marching towards them with his sword over his shoulder, shaking his head with an even deeper frown embedded in his face. The two of them blinked their eyes in recognition, saying, "Qrow?" in unison, looking at each other in surprise. Qrow stormed in between the two of them, directing his angry gaze towards the women.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He spat at her, looming over the rather tall female. To the sunny brawler's surprise and amazement, the swordswoman was completely unaffected by his anger, simply returning the gaze with her own chilly red orbs as she sheathed her sword.

"Fighting." She answered coolly, returning his gaze without any sense of hesitation or fear, something that Taiyang envied greatly. Oh how he wished he could be as brave as her. The other sword wielder's frown deepened even further as he glared at her. "He started it." She stated, pointing at him. His eyes widened in surprise as he watched the tall teen whipped around, turning his burning hot gaze towards him. "Why am I not surprised that you're a part of all this. Now," he continued, looming over him menacingly, "Explain what exactly you did to piss off my sister."

At first, he didn't say a thing, simply taking his time to gather his thoughts. As much as Taiyang wanted to simply crack a joke about the situation and wave it away, he barely got away with that before with only one of them, now he had two of them looking at him, one glaring at him and the other looking ready to cut him down if given the chance. Fighting was also not an option since he knew he couldn't defeat both of them, nevermind the amount of trouble he get in if he got into a fight before initiation. There was always the tried and true method of running away but he knew that would only stall the problem, not solve it. He might get beaten, sliced and stabbed but he took comfort in the fact that it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to him.

"I'm sorry," He said, looking Qrow in the eye, trying his damnedest to ignore his instincts telling him to run away as fast as he could. "I got excited about coming to Beacon and in my excitement I harmed both you and your sister. I should have controlled myself and contained my excitement. For not doing so, I'm sorry." He looked over at the woman observing them, "I'm sorry."

The sword wielder rolled her eyes at his apology, as if disgusted by it. On the other hand, her brother calmed down, going from blazing mad to simply upset. He let out of a sound somewhere between a grunt and a growl, turning his back to the brawler. "Come on, Raven," he said, "This guy's not worth missing initiation." Raven sparred him one more look over, shrugged and followed her brother. Taiyang watched the two of them walk away, feeling a smile spread across his face.

"Two possible friends/enemies huh?" He commented cheerfully, "And one of them is even a pretty girl. Better than I expected!" He jogged away, barely containing his excitement. And feeling rather optimistic.

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After a rather uneventful initiation, Taiyang spent the night in Beacon's ballroom, trying his best to calm down so he could get some sleep for tomorrow for the entrance exam. During the night, he spotted Raven on a sleeping bag in the far corner, reading some sort of book. Seeing a chance to make a friend, possibly more in the future, he walked up to her and tried striking up a conversation with her, topics ranging from the first day at Beacon to their first fight with the Grimm. Alas, the most he could ever get out of her was "Leave me alone or else I shall introduce you to my blade once more." The scared brawler kept on trying to get something out of the woman but before he could make a breakthrough with her, he felt something blunt being slammed into his head, strong enough to cause everything to go black.

As his senses returned to him, an unfamiliar scent wafted through his nose, a sweet and gentle scent that graced his nostrils. As he focused, Taiyang could feel something warm and soft below as well as above him. He felt two hands on either side of his face, dainty and warm, cradling him as he felt something wonderful wash over him. He also heard soft humming as who ever was evidently holding him was humming a lullaby. Forcing himself to return completely to consciousness, he opened his eyes, trying to focus on whoever was above him. His vision was blurred and unfocused at first, only able to make out a white, pink and red blur. As his vision returned to him fully, he finally got a good look at the person holding him.

The person in question was a girl his age, although she could pass as someone a year or two younger. She was pretty, with smooth porcelain-like skin and medium length dark hair that seemed to turn red at the tips, something Taiyang found cute. Her eyes were closed as she hummed her song so he couldn't tell what color her eyes were but the rest of her face had a serene, calm beauty to it, accented by her humming and the peaceful smile adorning her face, that he couldn't help but admire. She wore a pink shirt with the face of an adorable dog, a corgi perhaps?, on it with words "Arf Arf!" in a speech bubble beside it. She also wore a cloak along with the shirt, the same pristine color as freshly fallen snow with the hood drawn up over her head. She finished the last few notes of her song as the warmth flowing from her hands ceased, leaving a pleasant feeling behind. She opened her eyes, which were a breath taking color of sliver, looking down at him. In response he did what came first to him and smiled up at her, looking into her eyes.

In response, the girl blushed. She quickly zoomed out from under him, causing his head to bounce off the stone floor with a groan. Getting up off the floor, he looked across from him, seeing the girl who was holding him. She sat a few feet away from him, trying her damnedest ti hide herself within her cloak. He crawled over toward her, which caused her to give out a loud squeak and scooted back even further. The brawler sighed. He was never very good at these kind of things "Hey now," Taiyang cooed, using his gentlest voice possible, slowly but surely advancing toward her. He hoped to Oum above this worked, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." Although she didn't say a word, he could tell she had relaxed so he scooted up beside her, leaning forward a little so he could see her face. He gave her a smile as bright as he could, holding his hand out, "Taiyang Xiao Long."

The woman looked at the hand then up to him as if questioning whether or not she should take the hand. After a moment of hesitation, she grabbed the hand with a surprisingly strong grip. She took several breaths before answering back, "Summer Rose."

"Summer Rose huh? That's a lovely name!" Taiyang cheered loudly, making the girl squeak a little. She looked as though she wanted to run away and hide in another corner, making him wonder what he was doing wrong, before she gave him a small, timid smile that made him want to laugh at her awkwardness.

"Th-thank you." She replied, shifting herself over as if to get a better view of him. "Your name is very nice as well."

"I should hope so, my grampa gave it to me!" The yellow-wearing brawler exclaimed proudly, making the hooded girl look at him, curiosity shining in her silver eyes.

"Your grandfather named you?" Summer repeated, seemingly surprised, "Not your mom or dad?" At the mention of his parents, Taiyang felt himself visibly frown as some of his memories of the man and woman he was descended from flashed through his head. Though they didn't cause a panic attack like they use to, it still took him a lot of guts to freak out. Summer must have caught onto his sudden shift in moods as she huddled herself up again, hiding her face back inside her hood and muttering, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Upon hearing that, the yellow dressed brawler took a deep breath, calming his nerves and giving her a reassuring smile, "No no, it's fine. I'm just not that close to my parents. A bunch of weird family stuff I never looked into." He assured her, waving away the issue as fast as he could. He wouldn't allow those people to ruin his life anymore than they already had, "So, what was with you holding my head a minute ago? I mean, I'm not offended or anything. It's just, when you were holding me and humming that song, my head felt really warm, a nice kind of warm." The young woman muttered something under her breath, something that Taiyang couldn't quite hear, "What was that?"

"I said, that was my Semblance." She repeated, showing her hands to him. They glowed brightly before fading away, "I can heal people by giving them some of my Aura. I saw that you were hurt by the guy with the sword earlier and I wanted to make sure you were okay so I decided to see if you were hurt. So I dragged you aside and healed you." Taiyang looked at her in amazement, making the shy girl feel more self-conscious, "Sorry if I overstepped my boundaries. I just wanted to make sure you were alri-"

"That's amazing!" He cheered loudly, his eyes bright and shinning, "I've never even heard of a Semblance like that before! It must be so cool to be able to heal people like that!" Summer blinked at him, not saying or doing really anything. After the words apparently sunk in, she smiled widely with a hint of pride.

"I guess it can be pretty cool sometimes, not that it helps me fight very much." She admitted.

"Well, it takes more than just being able to hit something to be a good Huntsman," He assured her, remembering the lessons his teachers taught him, about learning how to care for the sick or help the injured, stuff outside of punching things. The two of them sat in silence, enjoying each others' company before Taiyang let out a long drawn out sigh, "Guess it's getting a little late huh?" He said, getting up and offering his hand to her.

"Yeah, we should be getting to bed," She agreed with an almost sad tone in her voice, "So this is goodbye huh?"

"For now at least!" He agreed, keeping the smile on his face, "I mean, we'll still see each other around school. Who knows, we could even be on the same team!"

Summer rolled her eyes at that notion, "The odds of that happening are very slim, almost astronomical. But I could have worse teammates than you. Good night, Taiyang."

"Good night Summer."` The blonde fighter agreed before they both walked away from one another, resting on their respective cots. While he laid there, Taiyang couldn't help but bust out the biggest grin possible, "That's one friend and two possible friends! Things are looking up!" 


	2. Chapter 2

When it came to finding partners the next day, Taiyang focused less on a landing strategy, which resulted in him crashing through several trees and landing on the hard ground face first, and more on possible partners. Obviously he had hoped to be paired with Summer since they had hit it off so well. But, as she said, ending up on the same team wasn't likely, let alone ending up as partners. Still, he hoped to see Summer first. In all honesty, the thought of being partners with a complete stranger scared the crap out of him. So he kept an eye out for anything white amongst the green, the brown and the black.

"Summer! Summer!" he yelled out, leaping above a gnarled tree root as he searched. Catching something white out of the corner of his eye, the blue-eyed Hunter-to-be turned sharply and raced off to they source of the color. "Summer!" he cried out, busting out of the bushes to expecting to see his first friend at the new school, only to find himself face to face with a set of big looking Ursi, who looked at the intruder with a mixture hunger and unrestrained, empty rage. "Well, this is a Grimm situation." Taiyang stated, the pitch of his voice raising just slightly from his fear. The Ursa closest to him let out a gigantic roar, slamming it's paw down. Using his honed instincts, Taiyang slid to the side, driving his gauntlet straight into the Ursa's chest, driving it backward.

As it's kin bounced away, the other Ursa roared and launched forward, thrusting it's paw toward it. He raised his arms in defense, blocking the blow with a small grunt. Though the sheer force of the attack forced him back an inch or two, the yellow garbed brawler knocked the Ursa away with a swipe of his fist and socked the big monster in the jaw, charging the blow with a quick burst of lightning Dust. The strike sent a shock through the tough creature's body and a small shuddered came upon it as a result. The Grimm didn't recover fast enough and the fearful brawler followed up the attack up with several quick jabs and hooks to it. The Ursa finally recovered, leaping forward and biting into his arm. Though his Aura prevented the beast sinking it's teeth completely into his arm, Taiyang's body screamed in pain. Gritting his teeth, he began punching the monster in the face, blow after blow, trying to get the Ursa off his arm. About eleven blows later, the monster released his arm from it's toothy vice, the both of them stumbling back. The scared brawler was the first to recover, bounding forward with a nervous smile on his face. The Grimm recovered it's senses just in time to feel a shocking fist slam into it's cheek, sending another, more powerful shock through it's body. Taiyang would have followed that up with another flurry of punches had the Ursa from before not leap at him from the side. He hoped backward, causing the other monster to land on empty ground while the other one shook it's head. The both of them glared over at him, their empty rage growing massively on size. All he had to say on that little fact was, "Well, this is situation went to the Beowolves."

The first Ursa rushed in at him, raising a paw to strike. Taiyang raised his arm to block the blow, his legs steady and sturdy despite the force that bared down on them. He drove his other fist deep into it's soft underbelly, forcing it back yet again. The other Ursa quickly followed up with a headbutt. He caught the attack with his armored hands, though the force of the attack forced him back again. Gripping the face with a tight, powerful grip. With a considerable amount of effort, the blond brawler lifted the beast up into the air and threw it into a nearby tree, smashing through it with a groan. He had about five seconds to catch his breath before the first Ursa came back into the fray, attempting to body slam the brawler. Taiyang slid away again, leaving the beast open for a frenzy of punches and kicks which he delivered with gusto. The Ursa rose up, dizzy and in pain from the multiple attacks. The golden haired teen noticed this and kept his guard up, knowing that it would only make it more dangerous. The Ursa suddenly leaped forward with a great amount of force. The monster leaped forward so fast that Taiyang couldn't move out of the way, making the attack land and sent him flying through a tree and into another one, just as what he did to the other creature. Groaning from the pain, the sunny boxer rose back up to his feet and assumed a defensive stance. The Ursa bounced forward again, snapping at him. He slid to the right and socked it in the jaw. The Ursa returned the favor by slamming him again, flinging him a few feet away. The teen landed on his feet and glared at it, apparently ready to end this. He gripped his hand tightly, electricity sparking around it violently. Taiyang ran up to the giant monster, which simply challenged him with a roar. The fear fueled brawler stopped only a step away, leaned downward before slamming his fist up into it's jaw with a powerful uppercut. The Grimm's head exploded into a mess of red liquid and black fur with a thunderous bang. He slumped over, smiling in victory as he exaimed the fading body. He didn't have too much time as the other Ursa finally got up from it's spot on the ground, shambling towards him.

"Well, this is a bit much to _bear._ " He joked, sighing loudly. The Ursa rose up onto it's hind legs, roaring over him-

 _Shlink!_

-Only to stop as the slick sound of sharp metal slicing through defenseless flesh rang throughout the forest. Taiyang watched as the two halves of the Ursa fell away from each other, revealing the person behind it, the one who had helped out the fighter and sliced through the Grimm like butter, to be Qrow Branwen, his broadsword dripping in the blood of the recently killed Ursa. The two of them looked at each other's handy work before locking eyes with each other. Their eyes widened in realization as they remembered Professor Ozpin's words. A deathly silence passed over them with the two of them paralyzed in realization. Taiyang was the first to make a move, smiling over at Qrow happily. This knocked the shock out of the blade wielder, who turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, without saying a word.

"Hey! Wait up!" Taiyang yelled out, racing up to the grumpy teen, 'Oh come on, what's wrong? I never did anything to you!"

Qrow whipped around, glaring at the broader teen with a fierce glare and snarl on his face. "never did anything? You punched me in the face, got in a fight with my sister, hit on my sister, tricked me into wearing women's clothing-"

"That last one's on you." He interjected, "Who doesn't know what a skirt is?"

Qrow shoved, the blade underneath his chin, "And now you've ruined my plan!"

"Plan?" he repeated quizzically, "What plan?"

"My plan to be partner's with my sister!" he yelled, glaring him down, "I was going to go find her and make sure she didn't get in any trouble! But no, I had to come and save your ass! Last time I do something nice for someone." he spat, walking away. Taiyang gave him a bit of distance as well as took a bit of time to gather his thoughts before following him and continuing the conversation.

"Well, things happen and sometimes you can't control them," He reasoned, getting nothing but a snort from the other teen, "The best you can do is make the most of what you have right now!"

"Yeah sure," Qrow snorted, quickening his pace to trip Taiyang up, "Like you could know anything about a bad thing happening."

He chuckled nervously, "Yeah. Like I would ever know."  
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For the first few months at Beacon, things basically went that way for Taiyang. Though things did turn out alright at initiation as he and Qrow ended up with Raven and Summer amazingly, that barely helped things. Qrow became twice as protective of Raven as before, glaring at him if so much as looked in her direction. He was also very prone to taking jabs at him, both physically and verbally, whenever he was angry, or upset, or frustrated, or tired,or bored. He tried his best to get along with Qrow but he always shrugged off his attempts and told him to leave or else, the else being especially definite whenever he called him the "Grimm Reaper." In combat and training they did alright, able to hold their own against their opponents when need be. However, everything feel apart whenever they needed to work together, which devolved into Qrow shouting at him and Taiyang attempting to keep himself calm, ending with them both losing as their opponent's took them by surprise. Afterward, they would fight ad their relationship would only become worse.

Things got so bad that their combat instructor, Professor Verma, stole one of their weekends and forced the two of them into going with her on what she called "remedial partnership classes." So that is why, at 9:30 in the mourning on a Saturday morning, Qrow and Taiyang were both trudging through the Emerald Forest, swatting at mosquitoes and following their teacher to some secluded campsite. As they walked through the legendary forest, Professor Verma, a tall pretty woman with medium length purple hair tied up in a ponytail, looked back at her two students with a smile. "So kids," She said in a sunny tone of voice, "What do you think of this glorious morning?"

Qrow grunted, frowning even deeper than before, as he squashed another mosquito on his face. "I think it reminds me a bit like home," He grumbled, swatting away more annoying insects before they could land on him.

"Really?" She said, her eyes sparkling in excitement before looking at Taiyang, "What about you?" The usually sunny teen didn't respond. Instead he was staring at the ground blankly, apparently lost in thought. Both Professor Verma and Qrow looked at the teen oddly, confused as to why the normally chipper and talkative teen was being so silent. "Uh, Taiyang?"

"Huh?" Taiyang said, snapping out of thought, "Oh sure." He responded half-heartedly, his mind looking back to what he was thinking of before...

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 _Taiyang was sitting with his friends Peter and Bartholomew (why he insisted on the full name would forever remain a mystery to him) in the cafeteria, laughing about his recent prank on his partner involving some chains, a lock and a cat when he heard someone cough behind him. Taiyang knew the cough instantly so it wasn't a surprise to him that it was Professor Ozpin. The kindly headmaster of Beacon Academy, standing behind him. However, what did surprise him was that the kindly man wasn't smiling. In fact, he wore an expression he had seen on his grandfather's all too often, an expression of sorrow and regret._

" _Hello, Taiyang," He greeted coolly. He flinched at the sound of his name. Ozpin never referred to someone by their first name. Something definitely wasn't right, "I need you to come with me."_

" _Um okay." he said, looking back at his friends for support. Getting only shrugs as responses, Taiyang reluctantly got up and walked with the white haired headmaster. He tried to read what the headmaster was thinking, to see what he was in trouble for, but alas the man's face held no clues for him. They walked side by side in silence all the way up to his office in Beacon Tower. There, Ozpin took his seat at his desk, motioning for him to take the chair in front of him. He gulped fearfully. The man always intimidated him, from day one every instinct in his body screamed in terror at the power hidden beneath this veneer of a man. But now, with this deathly silence filling the air and soaking into his every one of his pores, it took everything he had to not run. Still though, the blond brawler managed to keep his cool and walked up to the desk and took his seat from across the desk._

 _Ozpin looked at him with his old green eyes."Taiyang Xiao Long. Something important has come to me attention, something involving you."_

" _Listen, if this about Qrow and that cat I swear I fed the thing!" He swore._

 _Ozpin raised a single eyebrow, an action Taiyang would never have never thought scary before, but continued talking, "No, that's not what this is about. I'm afraid I was contacted by a Huntsman from Mistral. He was on a mission with your grandfather and something went awry."_

 _The brawler's eyes widened in response to what he said, his face morphing from anticipation to confusion to realization to disbelief and then to sorrow, "My grampa, he's...'_

" _I'm sorry for your loss." Ozpin muttered, his sadness and pity falling upon deaf ears as tears well up inside his eyes, falling to the ground as he felt a sickening coldness consume him._

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"Xiao Long!" Qrow yelled angrily, shaking the teen out of his thoughts and making him look at his partner with a dazed look, "Rattling around inside that empty head of yours again huh? Well, could you do us a favor try to at least pretend you have two brains cells to rub together and keep an eye out for Grimm?"

Usually he would try to crack a joke or something in response but Taiyang was just too worn out to say anything, so he just nodded and tried to focus. The teacher looked back at them and gave them a disappointed frown, as if saddened by this interaction. After another two hours of trudging through the woods, the trio from Beacon Academy made to a wide open clearing, which would have been rather beautiful with luscious, deep green grass and a plethora of wild flowers that adorned the area if not for the numerous Grimm in the clearing. The two teens, for the first time in their partnership, were in agreement as they stared at their teacher, who simply smiled at them. "Well boys, better kick these Grimm to the curb, this is our campsite!"

"Wh-what?!" Qrow stammered at her, his eyes widening in utter shock, "You brought us all the way out here to set up camp on a Grimm infested area and then make us clear out all the Grimm?"

"Yep!" Verma chirped loudly before looking at her other student, "Got anything to add to this Taiyang?"

The abnormally silent brawler shrugged. It didn't really matter to him and he honestly just wanted to set up camp so he could get this over with. And so, he immediately flung himself at the nearest Grimm, an unimpressive Beowolf. He socked the monster in the face, sending it flying into a few other Grimm, stopping at the collision with an Ursa Major. The Grimm all looked over to the trio of humans that dared to intrude on their turf. Normally Taiyang would be burning with fear from the sheer number of Grimm around them, especially as he could also spot an Alpha Beowolf along with the Ursa Major, but all he could feel from the cold emptiness inside was a few small embers that began sparking a bit. So he simply ran up to another Grimm and started wailing on it aimlessly.

Meanwhile, Qrow just shook his head and growled in anger, glaring at his partner as he jumped into battle to help fend them. Professor Verma smiled mischievously as she slid the bags on her back onto the ground.

Another hour and a half down the drain, the last Grimm fell to Qrow's blade, falling the ground in several large chunks with Taiyang sitting on the decaying corpse of the Ursa Major he fought earlier, slouched and tired from the battle as what little fire he had in him during the battle died out, leaving him cold and empty again. Qrow removed his sword from the Grimm, gave it a disdainful look before looking at his partner with the same look on his face. "Do you remember what I said about pretending like you have brain cells to rub together? Well, apparently not."

"Yeah, sure." He mumbled, only half hearing him. The lanky teen stared at him with a look of uncertainty and curiosity in his eyes before shrugging it off. He looked back to where their teacher was, about reprimand her for making them clear out Grimm detention be damned, only to find the bags of supplies she was carrying left on the ground. Panicking, Qrow surveyed the area around them, desperately scanning the trees for some sign of their teacher. Alas, he couldn't find a trace of her anywhere, confirming his fear that they were, in fact, alone in the middle of nowhere, Oum knows how many miles away from Beacon in any direction. He whipped around toward the only other person in the forest.

"Xiao Long, did you see where Professor Verma went?" He asked quickly, answered with a single raised eyebrow from him, "Don't be a smartass. We're trapped here in the middle of the Emerald Forest, miles and miles away from Beacon with barely any supplies and no supervision with about a small army's worth of hungry Grimm waiting to chew on our bones so I don't need your attitude."

"Okay, so what do you propose we do about it then?" Taiyang asked in low tone, getting a little infuriated by his insults now.

"I think _I_ should go looking for our teacher. Hopefully she just went off to patrol the forest or is just in hiding. I would take you with me but it's pretty obvious something is wrong with you and I do not need your help attracting Grimm. And while I'm off in the woods," Qrow walked over and threw the biggest bag of the group to him, "You can setup camp and get some firewood. If we can't find her, that means she's likely head back to Beacon and she wouldn't let us die...probably. So all we have to do is wait for a rescue team so we'll just set up camp here and wait. Any questions? No? Good boy." The angry teen started walking toward the woods before Taiyang stopped him with a small shout, "What?"

"Try going that way," Taiyang stated, pointing to his left, "There's a stream we passed by a few yards back. It would be the place Verma would go for a patrol since it's wide open to give her space to fight Grimm and it will help you find your way back here as well."

Qrow blinked, his expression changing from irritation to surprise, "That was actually a good idea. I guess I'll go that way then. … Thanks?" The depressed brawler grunted in response, shuffling through the bag while Qrow walked into the forest, with a rare smile on his face.

Hours and hours later, Taiyang had killed what seemed like the thousandth Beowolf, he dragged the body to away from the campsite and onto a pile of other dead Grimm. He returned to the fire and poked at the logs being consumed by the flames. He was a little worried about Qrow. Despite the bad blood between them, Taiyang did hold a soft spot for him. He couldn't quite his finger on it but there was something very...familiar about him. There was something in him that he also saw in himself. "Or maybe I'm just seeing things." He commented to none one else but himself and the fire in front of him.

"Wouldn't be the first time," He heard a familiar snarky voice call out. Looking over, he saw the red-eyed male slipping out of the forest, drenched in sweat and blood, though the latter was from Grimm most likely. Judging from the frown on his face and the absence of their energetic teacher he had failed in finding her. Taking pity on him, Taiyang gestured to the spot next to him. He looked at the spot warily, as though it would come alive and eat him, before he decided to take the spot. Though things were silent for a moment, Qrow didn't take long to voice his frustrations about their current situation.

"Well, I looked everywhere for Professor Verma," He said while Taiyang shuffled through the bags, looking for something to eat. "Went up and down the river, shouting out for her. Didn't get anything in return except the occasional Grimm. What a waste that was. Guess we're stuck out here huh?"

"I guess," The brawler agreed, still looking for food in the backpacks.

"Well, not that it matters to me, I'm use to living out in the woods," He told his fellow classmate, "I'm just worried about what might happen if you get yourself killed, Xiao Long." The fisticuffs user didn't respond to that, instead drawing out a package of hotdogs that the professor had packed. Tearing the package open with his teeth, He handed the grumpy teen a single hotdog as well as a sharp stick. He saw that the sword wielding teen was confused as what to do with the food. Sighing, Taiyang grabbed another stick and hotdog and demonstrated what to do by stabbing the food quickly and holding it over the fire. Nodding in understanding, Qrow did the same and held his dog over the fire. While they waited for their food to cook, the avian-named male looked over at his partner and sighed, "So, what's your home like?"

The yellow garbed brawler was caught off guard by both the sensitive question, his partner's bluntness and the fact that he was asking in the first place, "W-why do you ask?'

"Well, we're stuck in this Oum-forsaken forest with each other," he pointed out, "I thought I might as well make the most out of it and get to know you better."

Taiyang narrowed his eyes at him. Never in their entire time together did his partner show any interest in learning about him. He didn't even want to go on this bonding trip in the first place and only came because Verma would inform the headmaster. Needless to say, he was very suspicious. "How about we just eat and wait for someone to come find us?"

"Oh come one, Xiao Long." He moaned, turning his hot dog over. Seeing the teen turn as far away from him as possible, Qrow sighed, "Look, we honestly don't get along well. At all. And for the record, I don't want to become besties or whatever with you, not with some pampered city boy like you-"

Taiyang whipped back around, giving him a glare as he felt the unfamiliar burn of anger rise up inside of him, "You don't know a damn thing about me!" He spat at the red-eyed fighter.

"I know you're reckless, moronic, overly upbeat and under the delusion that your puns are funny," Qrow countered, "And that's all I need to know to not like you. But I want something out of this weekend that isn't a waste of time. Might as well try to understand what goes on in that empty skull of yours."

The blue-eyed teen growled, "Fine, you wanna learn about me? I'll teach you a thing or two! But I'm not doing for nothing."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that just as you want to get inside my head, I may as well get inside yours." He answered back, swinging his hot dog in his face, "I tell you something and you tell me something. Got it?"

The male Branwen twin locked eyes with him as their wills clashed against each other. After a full five minutes of this, he relented with a sigh, "Fine, I agree to your rules Xiao Long. And as a show of good faith I'll go first: Me and my sister have no parents." He smirked at him,, "Your move."

Taiyang rolled his eyes at him. He wanted to make this a game? Fine, he'll show Qrow the hole he dug for himself. "Easy, my mom beat me and my dad and I shared a total of thirty words between the two of us."

He must have caught Qrow off guard as his face changed into a look of surprise. He caught this mistake and returned it to his cocky look, "Me and my sister had to fight our whole lives."

"Me too," He countered, "I had to fight against the schools to get into Beacon."

"Tch. We had to live off the land."

"I've had to work to support me and my grampa."

"I've never stayed in more than one place for a week."

"I wish I could run away like you I have to stay and fight!"

"I've had to protect my sister since we were born!"

"I don't even have a sibling!"

"I've never met my parents!"

"Big whoop, I wish I never met mine!"

"Grrr," Qrow growled in both frustration and surprisingly, admiration as he shot up. "I grew up in a bandit clan!"

Taiyang rose up as well, matching his movement "I grew up with a distant father and an abusive mother!"

"I've had to kill to survive!"

"I wish I didn't survive!"

"If I didn't get tough, me and my sister would have died years ago!"

"My own mother tried to kill me when I was seven!"

"I don't have a home to back to! The clan has disowned me!"

"Neither do I! My grandfather was killed by bandits!"

The two teens panted as they felt all the air escape from their lungs. The two kept looking into each other's eyes, their looks changing from rising anger to something that neither had ever seen in the others' eyes: respect. As soon as they caught their breath, the two of them sat back down, an air of silence surrounding them, interrupted only by the low, comforting sound of the cackling fire. Qrow was the first o cut through the silence between them, "You've had it pretty tough huh?"

"No more than you." Taiyang responded, smashing through his end of the silence in return. "Bandit clan huh?"

The sword wielder sighed, blowing on his hot dog, "Yeah, born and raised there. The tribe takes care of you collectively for a few years then you gotta pulling your own weight, raiding villages and stealing things from merchants for food and money. Strong must fight and the weak must die, that sort of thing." He pulled the dog from the fire, removing it from the stick, "Guess this is the part where you tell me how awful bandits are, how monstrous they are and how wrong I am for being a part of a bandit clan huh?"

Taiyang shook his head, taking his own food away from the fire and stick, "No, I'm not. You did what you had to in order to survive, that's perfectly understandable. Life dealt you a bad hand and all you could do is deal with it." He took a bite out of the hot dog before talking again, "Same as everyone else. Besides, you weren't the one who killed my grandfather or anything so why should I get angry at you?"

Qrow looked at his fellow Huntsman-in-training, as though surprised by his words, "I guess that makes sense. It's just, everywhere I go, people just assume all bandits choose that life when some of us never had any other option."

"And that's why you came to Beacon," He said as he watched the former bandit take a bite of his food as well. He made a weird face, probably as he had never eaten a hot dog before in his life, before hesitantly swallowing it. The scene brought a smile to the young man's face before continuing his part, "I mean, you came here so you didn't have to be a bandit anymore."

"Pretty much," Qrow answered, "You can only do so much you don't want to survive before you start to wonder if it's worth it."

The pun maker let out a laugh, this one full of understanding and sadness, "Don't I know it. You fight and fight to survive and hope that you can make things better. But the more life knocks you down, the harder it is to get up. Makes you wonder if you really can continue, if you can keep marching forward." The other teen nodded in agreement, making the warm brawler look over at him, "What keep you going Qrow? What gives you the strength to keep moving forward?"

Qrow lowered his head in thought, his eyes becoming unfocused and distant as he apparently thought very hard about the question. After a short while of this, he returned to the present and answered, "My sister. I mean, as long as I can remember, we've always been there for each other. Through the thick and thin of life, we've cut our way through it all. And while we did so, we have made some truly great memories together, memories that are special, that are irreplaceable. And I want to keep going so we can make of those memories. You understand?"

"Yeah, I do." Taiyang responded, as he felt the cold empty feeling in him grow, "I felt the same way about my grandfather. We also made a lot of special and irreplaceable memories together. Hell, part of the reason why I became a Hunter was to make sure people would be happy and never feel the pain I did, just like what my grandfather did for me." He felt tears well up inside his eyes and the feeling grew and grew, threatening to consume him, "But now with him gone, I don't know what to do. I have nowhere to go, no one to share with. I'm all alone, with nothing in front of me and only pain behind me." His eyes held in the tears as much as they could before the salty liquid escaped, busting through every barrier he had. "I'm scared and I can't stand it anymore. Why should I keep going?" He cried, slouching over in defeat.

Then something special happened, Qrow Branwen, the person who had fought against Taiyang the whole time at Beacon, the one who had used every insult in the book on him, the one who had threatened his life more than once, wrapped one arm around him in comfort , pulling him close. "He now, that's not true. You've got a lot going for you."

"Like what?"

"Like those two guys you always hang out with, Peter and Bart right?"

"Bartholomew, but yeah." He corrected.

"Well, what about them? I'm sure that you guys have had some good times together, with how much you three laugh. And what about Summer? I've seen you two talk a lot together, sharing stories together. I'm sure you'll make plenty of memories with her. And as much as she may not look like it, my sister respects you somewhat. I'm sure you can squeeze one or two good times out of her," Taiyang looked up at him as Qrow realized what he just said, "Not like that, Tai."

"You said my name." He said, a little shocked by the fact. Qrow always addressed him by his last name and now he was calling him something that could almost be interrupted as a friendly nickname.

"Well yeah, with all this talk and crap we're doing I can't keep calling you "Xiao Long" anymore? I mean, we've basically just told each other our life stories and things that not even Summer or Raven know about. You can't do that without gaining a little bit of respect for each other right?"

"Respect? You? Me?" Taiyang questioned, as though the three words just couldn't co inside with each other.

"Yeah! At first I just thought you were a run of the mill, happy go lucky class clown who could just punch things. But, after getting to know you a little, I can see you are a really strong guy. Almost as strong as me." He said proudly, thumping his chest and eyes closed in pride.

When he opened his eyes, all he could see was a barreling wall of a person, embracing him in a tight but gentle embrace as let out tears and laughs of joy and relief. After days and days of loneliness, of feeling as though he were alone in the world and thought that he had no one else in the world, the great god above gave him a gift in the most unusual of forms, his asshole of a partner. He danced and danced the fire in joy, the cold empty feeling he had felt melted away as he embraced his new friend. Of course that invited the familiar feeling of fear as he thought about the multiple ways he could lose his friend as well as the rest of his team, but he didn't care. He'd face those problems head on with fear in his heart, so long as he had his friends.

While the brawler danced in joy and the sword wielder squirmed in discomfort, a certain, invisible woman with purple hair and eyes watched on with a proud smile on her face. "Well, that went better than expected." Professor Verma stated.

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The next few weeks went rather well for Taiyang. With the strain between him and Qrow gone, Team STQR quickly became one of the most powerful teams in the first year with their natural fighting abilities amplified by their team synergy. This meant that they were allowed to take missions, giving them both real world experience as well as fame behind them. The first few missions were simple enough, tracking down groups of Grimm terrorizing certain parts of Vale or helping evacuate ruined villages that had been sacked by either Grimm or bandits. However, their fourth mission was where it all changed. Charged with the simple task of rescuing a lost Huntsman, things became complicated when the Grimm the Huntsman had been fighting, a behemoth known only throughout all of Remnant as a member of the fearsome Goliath species, attacked them. With the knowledge that they could not outrun the massive beast, Team STQR was forced to take it down. While that sounded easy as Huntsman killed Grimm all the time, Goliaths were among the most powerful and it was reflected in their battle. No matter what they threw at it, the monster would just shake off the attacks and continue to assault them. Even the direct blows to it's legs by both Qrow and Raven seemed to only scratch the surface of it's skin. Meanwhile, the Goliath thrashed about, causing massive damage sending the members flying in several directions multiple times, causing several cracked bones. Still though, the team persevered against the behemoth, slowly but surely doing damage little by little. In the end, after several hours of continuous battling, it took the coordination of the entire team; Summer yelling out orders, Qrow and Raven attacking with all their might in tandem and Taiyang pushing his Semblance beyond it's limits before they cut the beast's throat and watch in relief as it fell to the ground with an earth shaking thud, finally dead and defeated. And that was when the blazing brawler passed out from exhaustion for the first time in four years.

When he woke up, Taiyang was laying in the middle of a hospital bed, the shattered moon high in the sky glowing with it's ethereal beauty. He tried to get rise up from the bed but was forced back down because of the pain that wracked his body from that simple action. Looking down, he saw that his left arm was in some sort of cast. He thought back to the battle, trying to recall if he had broken it during the fight. He assumed it was sometime around the fourth hour, after being flung through a couple trees by the Goliath when he decided to take on for Summer. It didn't occur to him at the time that it was broken, most likely due to combination of fighting a Grimm roughly the size of a small village and a huge amount of adrenaline.

Shrugging it off, he decided to look around the room he was confined in. When he did, the brawler saw the other members of his team sitting around, deep in slumber. Qrow and Raven slept together in the corner, sitting in side by side chairs and leaning on each other in an adorable manner. As for their leader, to his surprise, she was sleeping in the chair right next to him with her head resting next to him and her hand on his. Judging by her unusually pale skin and the drool streaming from her mouth she had spent all her energy and Aura trying to heal him, the fact making him feel a surge of happiness and guilt. Happy that he had such a great leader and friend that would try so hard to ensure he was healthy. And guilty because of the fact that they really hadn't talked very much for such a long time. Between the leadership lessons Summer had and his training with Qrow alongside the numerous attempts he had made to get closer to Raven they never seemed to find the right time to just sit down and talk. Maybe if he hadn't let himself get so caught up in his newfound friendship or his allure to his teammate they could have hung out more, having more moments like they did back on their first day. And yet despite the gap between them, she had risked her own health and safety just to make sure he was fine. Made him wonder what he did to deserve someone like her as a friend.

He felt Summer stir in her sleep and watched as her heavy eyelids fluttered open, looking up at dazed and unfocused. Once her mental facilities returned to her, she leaped forward and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a deep hug. He grunted as his body screamed in pain from the contact, but he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of warmth radiating from her so he returned the hug the best he could. After a full five minutes of hugging and what he suspected was silent crying, the white-cloaked Huntress pulled away from him, looking at him with a mixture of relief and joy. "Thank Oum you're alright. I was so worried." She cried as tears welled up in her silver eyes. Seeing this, the injured brawler smiled through his pain.

"Oh, you didn't need to that for little old me," He told her, reaching over with his good arm and ruffling her hair affectionately. He was glad that the gesture stopped her from crying as it was very painful to watch the short girl cry. "I mean, I wasn't _that_ hurt."

"Tai, you had three cracked ribs, both your legs were on the verge of breaking, three of your organs were bleeding internally, a broken arm and no Aura left." Summer told him with the injured fighter laughing nervously at that fact. He hadn't expected on taking so much damage but it was expected fighting one of Remnant's most powerful Grimm. Suddenly, Summer leaped forward and slapped him in the face, causing him to cry out in shock. "This is no laughing matter!" She yelled at him, "Do you realize just how much damage you took? There was a very real chance you could have died!"

 _'Heh, how many times have I heard that?'_ Taiyang laughed internally. He had been brought to the brink of death plenty of times, it was the only way he could use his Semblance to it's fullest. "Listen Summer," He said, patting her cheek reassuringly, "Taking damage for the rest of you is just what I do, it's my part in this team. I mean, seriously, do you think you or Qrow or Raven would be any better off bearing the attacks meant for you instead of me taking them? I mean, look at you: you're hurt from just slapping me. Do you honestly think you could endure what I did?"

"No," She answered honestly, looking uncomfortable as she began to see where he was coming from, "But that doesn't excuse what you did. All the rest of us suffered was a couple of cracks and fractures and we even had a tiny bit of Aura left, unlike you. We were all afraid that we were going to lose you there for a while."

The tough brawler let a hearty laugh that didn't help his pin in the slightest. "Summer, let me just say it's going to taken a bit more than a Goliath to take me down."

"Oh yeah? And what makes you so special?" Summer questioned, "From where I'm standing, you're just as weak as the rest of us."

"Trust me Summer, no one agrees with that statement more than me," He assured her, "I'm just saying that I'm a bit too stubborn to die so easily. Besides, I was only trying to make you feel better."

The team leader huffed, turning her head away from him in anger, "Well, that didn't work out very well for you, huh?"

"Oh come on, don't be that way Summer," Taiyang begged with the healer ignoring his words, "Hey now, you can't be that mad with me over something as silly as that."

"Silly?" She said, whipping her head around at him, glaring at him so fiercely that every cell in his body told him to run and hide, "Do you find death silly? What about the loss of someone you care about? Do you find that silly? Do you find the fact that me and Qrow's lives would have never been the same without you silly?" The tears that were once in her eyes welled up and burst from her eyes, "Well it's not! It's not silly at all! It's scary! It's terrifying! It's-it's-it's-" Summer Rose broke down and started sobbing into the bed, muffling her cries so that it didn't wake up the other two people in the room.

The blue-eyed teen looked at his team leader with a look of pain and sadness. In his fear of losing his friends, he had caused them so much strife and pain, especially his leader who had done nothing but help him the entire time he was friends with, going as far as emptying what little Aura she had left into him to help heal him. He had let fear and pain dictate how he was running his life, he let it hurt those around him.

But not anymore.

Sitting up and moving so he could face Summer properly, he pulled her up into his arms so he could fully hug her, letting her cry into his chest while he removed the hood from her head and gently petting her head. Once her cries died away and her tears dried up, Taiyang lifted her up so he could look her face to face. "Summer," he said, "I'm sorry that I put you, Qrow and Raven through so much, worrying about me and making sure I was safe. I should have thought about what it would have done to all of you to see me like that and I'm sorry."

"Well, so long as you don't do that again," Summer said, "I guess I can forgive you."

"Well, I can promise that I won't do something like rush in front of a Goliath's attack again," He admitted, "But I'm not going to stop trying to protect all of you. In all honesty, it's the only thing I can contribute."

Summer blink at him, her expression going from reluctant forgiveness to curiosity, "What do you mean Taiyang?"

"Well," He said, "I'm not as agile as Qrow, nor am I as stupidly strong as Raven. And I'm definitely not as smart or cautious as you are," The young woman blushed at the compliment given to her, smiling sheepishly at him. However, the sturdy brawler didn't notice this and continued talking, "The only thing I can really do is take a hit and keep fighting. So that's what I do for the team: take the hits you three can't and keep fighting. Even my Semblance shows this. It's entirely useless if I don't take damage. So you see, if I don't take hits then what am I supposed to do? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Summer looked down in thought, probably trying to think of an argument against what he said. However, in the end she simply nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess."

Taiyang grinned, hugging her again but with enough force to cause her to squeak, "Thanks Summer, you're the best!" He cried out thankfully. For a minute there, he was afraid that she would fight him over it.

"I'm also dying..." She wheezed out, her face turning red from the sheer pressure of the hug. The happy teen let go of her quickly, allowing her to breath once more which she embraced with a deep inhale. After a minute or two of gasping for air, Summer regained her composure and looked up at him, "I'm glad that we've finally come to an agreement and everything but can you try to restrain yourself from attempting to kill me from hugs of all things."

The affectionate brawler blushed heavily in embarrassment, "Yeah, I should watch that. Qrow keeps telling me I'm gonna paralyze him by the third year." Summer laughed at that little fact, a sound so full of warmth and kindness that brought a smile to his face. "You know something, I'm really happy that I met you guys. When I first came to Beacon, I was really scared. I barely knew anyone, it was the first time I had been away from home and it was right next to a forest of Grimm. I felt so scared that I wouldn't find a friend or anyone here, that I would be all alone here. And yet, despite all that, I've ended up with the best partner I could have had and two of the best friends I could have hoped for. No matter what happens, I'll always be okay when I have you three by my side."

"Same here," Summer agreed, nuzzling him affectionately for a little bit before pulling out of his hug, "You should some sleep, Tai. You won't get any better talking."

Seeing as his entire ribcage was in searing pain from the extended hug, he had no choice but to agree with her. He shifted back down onto the bed, containing winces of pain as he moved, gently lying back down. As he drifted back into the sweet realm of sleep, Taiyang felt his leader's hand, soft and warm and holding more strength than he could hope to achieve, assuring him that she would be there when he woke up. With that in mind, he let the blissful darkness wash over him.  
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As much as he would like to say that his time at Beacon went by without a hitch, where was the fun in that? His time at Beacon was a tough one as missions went awry, Grimm became gradually more active and attacked them more and even a few of his fellow students caused trouble for them. To to mention the little incident with Summer and some previously thought mythical powers, but it wasn't enough to take down Team STQR. If anything, the battles only made them stronger, tougher, faster and wiser. So much so that when graduation rolled around, they were seen as one of, of not the best team to have ever graduated from Beacon.

Even after their graduation, the team managed to keep in contact with one another, unlike the many others that graduated. Raven and Qrow, being twins, obviously stayed in contact. Taiyang and Summer tried their best to stay close but problems arose that only the former team leader could solve so she had to regretfully leave him and the rest of her team behind. While he was saddened by the loss of his friend, the sunny brawler took solace in the fact that he and Qrow managed to stay together, staying together in the house that his grandfather had once owned. While this meant that they could always watch each other's backs and always have someone around, it was still difficult living in the house that once sheltered the man who had always been there for him.

Another plus was that as he kept in contact with the scythe wielder, Taiyang got to spend time with his sister, where he finally managed to break through her silent, icy exterior and finally get something from her. Time after time, as she visited her brother, he was able to talk with her and get a little closer to her. After months and months of this dance, he gained the courage to ask her out on a date and to his surprise, she actually said yes! A fact that made him leap for joy. And so, they went out several times after that, simply talking and hanging out with one another. Then, after one of their dates where they got a little...frisky, the unthinkable happened.

Raven got pregnant.

It wasn't obvious at first, especially since the former bandit had never learned about pregnancy before. So for the first few weeks they thought she was just really sick. Then when they all finally find out the truth, they were shocked to say the least. Raven expressed panic for the first time in her life while her brother immediately flipped his shit and beat the ever loving crap out of his partner while screaming bloody murder. Speaking of the yellow haired brawler, Taiyang was absolutely frightened by the prospect of becoming a father. Not only had it come out of the blue for him without any kind of preparations or warning, but the only experience he had with parents was with his own and needless to say, that did not help him in the least. In fact, throughout Raven's entire pregnancy, these thoughts prevailed through all and haunted him without end: What if he ended up like his own parents, ignoring his child or worse, beating them when he was in a bad mood? What if he screwed up the child's life and he ended up making them as screwed up as he was? What if he was no better than the people he had spent a great chunk of his life despising and cursing?

So when he heard from Qrow that his lover went into labor, he had to summon all of his mental strength in order to not faint on the spot. Instead he immediately dropped what he was doing and rushed to the hospital at full speed. Upon reaching the maturity ward, he ran right up to the receptionist and said, "I need to see Raven Branwen, right now!"

The woman nodded and typed quick into the computer before looking up at him, "I'm sorry mister, she's currently in labor and no one is allowed to be with her except hospital staff. If you want, you can take a seat over there, next to that gentleman," she pointed over to where his partner was sitting, twirling his thumbs nervously, "and wait for the doctor to let you in."

Taiyang opened his mouth to object but he saw the receptionist glare at him, causing the nervous brawler to shut his mouth and take the seat next to Qrow. He took a minute or two to clear his mind enough to gather a coherent thought before speaking to the soon-to-be uncle. "Is she alright?" he asked, his voice quaking in fear and uncertainty. In response to this, the male Branwen twin gave him a somewhat reassuring smile.

"She's fine if you discount the baby pushing itself through her," he told the fighter. Upon hearing a nervous wheeze emit from Taiyang, the scythe wielder laughed at his expense before saying, "Oh come on Tai, this is Raven we're talking about. She's not a lightweight like you," he said, punching his soldier lightly, "It'll take more than some newborn to take her down."

"I know I know," he chanted, nodding his head furiously, "It's just, what if something goes wrong? What if Raven dies? What if the child dies? Oh dear Oum, what if they _both_ die? I-I know it's ridiculous and that it probably won't happen but still, things like that can still happen and I don't know if I could handle it if something happened to them and I can't help but worry. What am I gonna do Qrow? What am I gonna-" Taiyang's little tangent was put to an abrupt stop with a quick, sharp punch to the face by his partner. Though his Aura did absorb most of the damage form the blow, it was enough to snap him out of his downward spiral and back tom the world of reality. "Thanks Qrow." he said, looking over at his great friend thankfully.

"No problem...although that was more for me than you," He told the soon to be father, who laughed in thanks. The two of them sat together, trying their hardest to keep their minds away from the dark thoughts in the back of their minds, talking about any subject matter other than Raven's labor. Eventually, their talk lead them to a different but still sensitive subject: Summer.

"So," Taiyang said, as the former team leader's name came up, "Have you heard from her at all?"

Qrow sighed, shaking his head in answer, "Nope. Not a letter, not a call, nothing," He let out a long, drawn out sigh, "I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is," He assured him, patting his back, "I mean, how many times has Summer saved our asses before? Just how many Grimm has she killed that we couldn't? How many times has she defied the odds? I tell you, Oum above couldn't stop Summer if she was determined enough."

The lanky man smiled and patted his back in thanks, an action he returned in kind. They only had a few minutes to enjoy this moment together before a doctor walked in, calling their names. Both men immediately ran up to the man, bombarding him in questions. In response, the doctor held up a single hand, silencing them both and informing them both that Raven was fine and that the baby was born healthy and fine. He also told them that they were allowed to come and see the child for themselves. So both Qrow and Taiyang followed the doctor through the hospital as he lead them to Raven's room. In sharp contrast to his outward appearance, the yellow-clad brawler was so scared that he had to force himself to keep up with the doctor and his brother in law as his mind was flooded with every single doubtful and fear charged thought that had passed through his head the past nine months. The entire world around him became blurry and unfocused as all he could see were the images of his parents, the sounds that roared around him became muffled as all he could hear was his mother's screams, his father's dismissive mumbling and his heartbeat. Even so, he kept on moving, getting closer and closer to his fate.

Soon enough, the doctor stopped in front of a door and opened it, revealing the red-eyed woman sitting in a plain hospital bed, her hair just as wild and untamed as before with an expression that neither male could read. In her arms she held something small, wrapped in a bright yellow blanket. Qrow walked up to his sister and began talking to her, whispering to her as to not wake the little bundle she was holding. Meanwhile, Taiyang has stayed rooted in his spot, unable to move as he stayed fixated at the bundle in her arms. He felt his heart beat faster and faster the longer and longer he looked at the bundle. Qrow took the bundle from the woman's arms and looked down at the bundle lovingly, letting out a sweet, genuine smile that glowed with such love and kindness. The golden-haired brawler watched as the avian-like Hunter walked over to him, giving him a proud smile as he handed him the bundle. "Say hello to your daughter." He cooed proudly.

Taiyang took his flesh and blood into his arms, he looked down at the bundle, seeing his daughter face to face for the very first time. Wrapped inside the bright blanket, barely hours old, was a small, chubby face that looked like a cross between his face and his love's. The top of her head was colored in a shade of beautiful gold, much like his own except more vibrant. Warmth radiated from the small body, easing the ice cold fear that once flowed through his veins, being replaced by something new and something unfamiliar, something that bubbled underneath. His breath slowed and his heart settled as he absorbed every detail of the baby's face, the unfamiliar feeling bubbling upside him at an even greater rate than before. Then, the baby's eyes opened up, revealing them to be a breathtaking shade of lilac, making him freeze once more as the feeling grew. The baby smiled and cried out happily to him and the feeling overtook him over, causing him to drop down to his knees, crying tears of love.

Both Branwen twins stared at this scene in shock and in Raven's face, disgust. Throughout the seven years they had known him and the countless number of fiends and beasts that they had fought over those seven years, they had never seen the man be driven to his knees. Once or twice they had seen him kneel down before, but that was only for a second and he had simply gotten back up and kept fighting. But now, a small newborn girl had accomplished what hundreds and hundreds of Grimm, the best Huntsman in training and even life had failed to do: Bring Taiyang Xiao Long to his knees.

Qrow chuckled in respect, wishing he had a drink in hand to celebrate the moment, Raven just looked at the two with a look of slight disdain and Taiyang himself held the child as close to him as possible, whispering to her, "I love you" over and over again.


	3. Chapter 3

Things looked to be going so well for Taiyang. He had a beautiful lover, a great partner and the best daughter a man could ask for. He was as happy as can be as the future looked so bright for him.

Then Raven left.

No goodbyes, no notes, no warning. One night he slid into next to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek and joyful "good night." The next morning, he was awaken by the sound of his daughter crying out, only to find that he was alone in the bed. He was shocked, to say the least, rushing throughout the house and in the area around them, calling out her name at the top of his lugs. But no matter how loud he cried out or as many times he tried finding her, the brawler couldn't find her anywhere. In his panic, he contacted Qrow, begging and pleading with his brother in law to tell him that Raven was with him, that she was still around.

Sadly, Qrow was just as shocked as he was and, judging from the fact that he fell through his front door with bloodshot eyes, a newly bought and broken flask in one hand and a crumbled up picture not five hours after he called, was at least as saddened by her leaving as he was, if not more. The two grieving men wanted desperately to just wallow in their misery and grief, to mourn the loss of someone they loved dearly, but that wasn't an option. Not when they had a newborn to take care of. So, the two of them pulled themselves together as tightly as possible and did their best to take care of the child, despite their inexperience.

One night, two months after Raven's disappearance, Taiyang was up late at night. gently rocking his crying daughter back and forth, back and forth as he hummed a wordless lullaby, luring her into a deep sleep. At first it seemed to not work in the slightest as she continued to cry out, probably still for her missing mother. Then, as he continued to rock her in his arms, her cries started to peter out, growing quieter and quieter, softer and softer as she grew sleepy until her eyes closed and her breath evened out, signaling her sleep. Closing his eyes in silent thanks, he placed her softly in the crib, pulling a soft blue blanket over her and giving her a small kiss on the forehead before walking away, closing the door carefully and softly. As soon as the door closed, the tired father couldn't help but let out a ragged sigh, making his way to the kitchen for a glass of water. On his way to the kitchen, he found his brother in law passed out on the couch, face deep in a cushion with his flask on the floor in a puddle of alcohol.

Taiyang shook his head and ran up stairs, coming back down with a blanket in hand. He rolled Qrow over on to his side, flipping the pillow over as well so he wouldn't be sleeping in his own drool and tears. The brawler then covered the passed out man with the blanket, patting his head thankfully. He was so glad to have the man by his side during this rough time. Between his help with taking care of the child and doing the best he could to comfort him, the scythe wielder's company was invaluable to him. Without him around, Taiyang didn't know how he could ever made it this far without him. The sunny brawler picked the flask off the floor, catching a whiff of it's contents as he did. He gagged audibly as he smelled the alcohol, his stomach convulsing and flipping in disgust. Luckily he hadn't eaten very much in the past few days or else he would have caused a bigger mess. The blue-eyed father screwed the top back on the flask and set it aside, giving it a disdainful look as he did. "Never could stand alcohol," Taiyang muttered, grabbing a washcloth from the kitchen and wiping off the floor, trying his best to to vomit.

Just as he was finished cleaning up Qrow's mess, the tired man heard someone knock on his front door. He grumbled loudly, wondering who could be knocking on his door at this hour. He opened the door and, to his utter amazement, Summer Rose was standing there, covered in blood and black fur with all of her clothes, even her signature white cape, were torn into shreds. Taiyang stood there in surprise while Summer gave him a happy, heartfelt smile and said, "Well, aren't you going to invite me in for a glass of water or something?"

Moments later, He and Summer were sitting at his living room kitchen with the arrived woman gulping down a big glass of water while Taiyang just sat there in a mixture of amazement and surprise. He opened his mouth to ask a question but she cut him off with a finger, holding it in the air for several seconds until the glass was empty, slamming it down onto the table with a satisfied sigh. "Sorry. Beowolf tore apart my canteen about six hours back. What did you want, Tai?" She asked happily.

"Where have been?!" He exclaimed, rocketing out of his chair, "I mean, we haven't heard from you in eight months. We were so worried." Summer got up out of her seat, ran herself another glass of water before sitting back down and talking to him.

"Aw, that's sweet you were so worried about little ol' me Tai," She said, taking another drink of water before continuing, "Well, the thing is, I was with a certain group of people trying to take out a rather troublesome Grimm in a faraway place. It took us and months to find and kill it, I would have called or wrote to you two but we couldn't spare a moment from our mission." The ax-wielding Huntress reached over and grabbed both of his hands, holding them with her own, smaller, colder hands, "I'm really sorry Tai. I know I've must have caused you and Qrow a lot of grief and worry and trust me when I say that would be the last thing I would want to do."

"I know," He comforted the kind-hearted woman, squeezing her hands in thanks, "We just get so scared when you're out there. Every hour we don't here from you is an hour you could be lying on the ground somewhere, alone and dying."

Summer raised one of her hands up to his face, rubbing left cheek gently with her thumb, "Well now I'm here so you don't have anything to worry about right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Taiyang agreed, taking a moment to drink in her presence before talking again, "Why did you come back now, anyway?"

"Well, when I heard from Qrow that you and... _Raven_ were having a baby and that she left," She said to him, her hand dropping from his face and the smile she wore became almost like plastic. The brawler sensed something from the way she said his missing lover's name. Disappointment maybe? Or was it something deeper? Dislike? Anger? Maybe even...hatred? He would have suspected the last two if he didn't know her. "When I heard all that, I knew I had to be there for you and Qrow."

"Thanks Summer," He said. The worn out father glanced over at his brother on the couch, lasting only for a second. However, this was enough for the woman sitting across from him to catch his gaze and looked over at the same spot, her face turning into a look of curiosity and concern.

"How's he holding up?" Summer asked, her voice layered in concern. He looked over at his partner, sighing in sadness.

"He's...moving forward the best he can," Taiyang informed her, "Despite the heavy drinking he's been doing, his help has been invaluable to me, not to mention what he's been doing to keep me together," He looked at her, his eyes full of concern and pleading, "He could really use a hand, Summer."

"You both could," She agreed, looking him up, no doubt seeing his poor condition. Luckily, at that moment, they both heard a loud, high pitched wail echo through the house. Taiyang recognized the cry and raised himself up to go see what was wrong as Summer sat up as well, "Let me help you." The two of them made it to the child's bedroom, where the little baby was crying out in her crib. Taiyang groaned as her wail pierced through his sleep-starved mind. In his hesitation, Summer made the first move towards the baby, picking her up into her arms, Summer looked down at the crying baby. "There there, little one. It's going to be alright, everything's alright little...Um...Tai?"

"Yang."

"Yes, I know your name Tai. I asking what her name is." The powerful Huntress said.

"Yang."

"Okay, Taiyang," She said, a bit of frustration seeping into her usually calm and soothing voice, "What is the name of the crying baby I am holding?"

"Yang."

"Okay Xiao Long, you are really starting to aggravate me." She informed him.

"The baby's name is Yang!" He said loudly, raising his voice at the frustrated woman. She looked from the baby in her arms then to her teammate, who she gave a single raised eyebrow.

"Really Tai? You couldn't think of anything better than a shorter version of your name?" She asked him, half joking half serious.

"For your information, my name and therefore her's comes from an old name for the sun," He informed her, "My grandfather named me this because he said the sun shone brighter the day I was born. I never understood what he meant until I held Yang in my arms."

Summer stood there, taken back by his words. "I-I had no idea."

"Summer, are you crying?"

She sniffed, wiping her tears away from her eyes, "I wasn't expecting you to spring some deep stuff on me. I was caught off guard, okay?" She turned her attention back toward the baby in her arms, Yang, who was still crying. She sniffed the air around her, recoiling in horror at the smell. The woman went over to the changing table and, in a jawing dropping display of talent and skill, quickly changed the baby's diaper. The man watched slack jawed as she finished putting on the baby's diaper and gave the baby a kiss on the the tummy, in which Yang giggled and laugh. She picked up the baby and looked at Taiyang with a smile, which turned into a confused frown upon seeing Taiyang's expression. "What?"

"It took me a week in a class to learn how to change a diaper," He said in astonishment, making Summer giggle.

"Guess you guys really do need me." She laughed while Yang seemed to cry out happily in agreement.

And for the next six months, Summer not only helped raise the baby Yang but also helped Qrow and Taiyang recover from the blow Raven dealt upon her departure. Between giving the happy child the love her mother would have denied her, the healer slowly but surely helped rebuild the broken men. She helped Qrow not drink himself to sleep every night and to go back out there and get back into the groove of being a Huntsman. She tried to do the same with Taiyang but he didn't want to miss out on a moment in the baby's life. Raven was gone so he couldn't afford to lose a moment with her. So the two of them took care of Yang together, taking turns taking care of and spending time with her.

As he shared the experience of raising a child with her, the close ranger fighter found himself growing closer to his team leader. After the first month, he couldn't let her keep traveling from all the way in Patch to his home so he insisted that she stay with him and Qrow. From there, the two of them worked their hardest to raise Yang right. When they weren't busy with the child or Summer wasn't off on a mission, they had a lot of time to spend together seeing as Qrow always seemed to be in one mission or another. At first it was just simple things, small talk over a meal together. But things changed and they talked about deeper things, like their family. Summer told him stories of her family he had never heard before, like how her brother had almost gotten eaten by a Grim when she was only ten or when she managed to save a fellow classmate when her school caught on fire. And in turn Taiyang entrusted to her the stories of his childhood, how he spent his first few years living in fear of his mother with his father being more a distant observer than an actual parent and how he managed to find a way to live with that fear. And when they weren't telling stories to each other, they simply enjoyed each others' company, either with a movie or just resting together after a long, hard day. After a while, the blue-eyed brawler found himself seeking out her company more and more. He kept doing more and more things to make her happy, like making her favorite meals. He also started to hold her close while they were laying on the couch, even stroking her hair as she fell asleep on him. He knew very well what this meant: He was falling for Summer Rose.

While under normal circumstances Taiyang might have embraced these feelings, things weren't normal. It wasn't even a year since Raven left and he couldn't sully her memory chasing after another woman so soon, especially her partner. And what if Summer didn't feel the same as him if he confessed or tried pushing things? He would lose one of the three people had left in the world, not to mention he would drive away the closest thing to a mother Yang had. No, the tanned man decided that not pursuing these feelings would be for the best. So he didn't and continued on with his life like normal. Or at least, as normal as his life could be. Then one night, things changed. He was exhausted from the effort of a rough day of parenting and an especially hard test of his will against his feelings for Summer. Taiyang was barely able to collapsed onto his bed, his aching body soothed by the soft feeling of his blanket and sheets. He fell into a deep sleep, expecting to wake up the next morning. This was not the case, as he was awoken in the middle of the night by someone shaking him awake. He opened his eyes, his mind groggy and blurry from the sudden awakening. When his vision fully returned to him, he focused up at the person who woke him up.

He then knew that this must have been some weird dream he was having because what Taiyang saw was his team leader sitting next to him on his bed, wearing nothing but her bra and panties, looking down at him with silver eyes shining . He refused to believe what he saw was true, deep in the belief he was shaving a weird dream as she moved down, pressing her body against his as she captured his lips and began kissing him. His belief that what was happening was a dream reduced greatly in probability as he felt her lips against his but he still couldn't quite process what was happening. So his body reacted on instinct as he began kissing her back. The two's lips moved in sync until they both subconsciously decided to go a step further, opening their mouths to allow their tongues to meet in the middle, dancing about with each other in a heated dance, his large, warm tongue dancing with Summer's smaller, cool one. Soon the two of them needed to come up for air as they parted, with Taiyang sitting up, making Summer move to the side. He looked over at her, his team mate unable to look at him with her face full of dread. "I'm sorry Tai," she apologized, her voice cracking in barely constrained sadness, "I've just had these feelings for you for so long but I never could say anything. I was either too shy or you were running after Raven. I've held on to them for so long I just couldn't hold them in anymore." The Huntress' eyes began watering and her noise began sniffling, "Please forgive me. I know you still love Raven and I shouldn't-" Taiyang lunged forward kissed her again, this time Summer was the one caught off guard this time around. When he pulled away from her, she left confused and dazed. "Tai?"

"It's true I still have feeling for Raven and I always will," He told her, wrapping his arms around her lithe frame, "But I know I have more than enough room in my heart for you too."

Upon hearing the words she thought all but in her imagination, Summer's face changed into a look of unrestrained, fully embraced joy and love, leaping up and kissing him with all her might. He managed to kiss back and they embraced each other gladly, their bodies moving together in unison as they reveled in their love, expressing it in the purest way possible. Writhing and dancing with each other, gasping, moaning, grunting and calling out each others' names in their dance. And as they reached the heights of nirvana together, the two settled down together, falling back down to earth in each others' arms, smiling with the knowledge that they had the rest if their lives together.

"Waaaaaaaa!"

"*Sigh* Tai, could you get that? I can't feel my legs right now."

"Sure."

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From that day forward, Taiyang Xiao Long's life went nowhere but up. Yang grew up nice and healthy without any problems. His relationship with Summer developed quickly and smoothly, especially when they got Qrow's blessing. Speaking of the avian fighter, he seemed to have fully recovered from Raven's disappearance, having regained his dry sense of humor and quick wit. Although he would prefer that his brother in law wasn't drinking. They moved out of his small home, leaving it to their partner, and moved into a house on Summer's home island of Patch. He even managed to get a few Huntsman jobs on the side to support his family. And to his utter joy, he soon found out that was pregnant. Overcome with the thought of having a second child with Summer, he let out a cheer so loud that Ozpin found out half a kingdom away. So he tended to Summer during her pregnancy, which was relatively easy as she didn't beat him up every time she had a mood swing. Then he held her hand as she gave birth to their second child, a small girl named Ruby who looked like a small version of her mother. And after Summer, Qrow and several doctors pried Ruby from Taiyang's proud arms, the big family took one big picture together with the proud papa smiling in contentment at his life. He had a loving wife, the best brother in law he could ask for and two beautiful children. Things were finally going his way.

...For about four years, where his love Summer Rose died on a Huntsman mission. Despite all their searching and all their prayers and hope, all they could find was a torn and bloody white cloak. Needless to say, the impact her death had was massive. Qrow, although taking it the bets, was visibly distraught, his drinking nearly reaching the heights of his sister's disappearance.. Ozpin nearly cried, meaning his heart was probably ripping in two. Yang and Ruby were deep in morning from the loss of their mother, old enough to know she was gone but too young to process such a loss. As for Taiyang?

He wasn't doing very well. Evident by the fact that after bringing his nieces home from wandering into the forest looking for his sister with reasons he could barely comprehend, he found his brother in law attempting to hang himself. Faced with a seeming endless stretch of darkness and despair, pain and grief eternal, the only thing he could find to do was end it all. Luckily Qrow was able to cut him down before anything could happen but that didn't stop the sadness that consumed him everyday or the hopelessness that persevered without end. He had lost so much, nothing seemed to go right for him. Why should he get out of bed in the morning? Why should he even continue to live?

So things continued like that for him for months, with his brother in law desperately fighting with him everyday to get out of bed, to help be there for his kids. Each time he mentioned Yang and Ruby, the blonde brawler tried his best to rise up and recover but in the end the overwhelming sadness won out and he'd just lie back down. Every day, he lied awake, his memories of Summer and Raven playing on loop in his head over and over again, a constant reminder of what he had, what he lost and what he could never have again. Every time he couldn't be there for his kids, he felt more and more like a failure, driving him deeper into his hole. And every time he saw that look of fear on Qrow's face when a Grimm attacked their house or when the scythe-wielder had to stop him from killing himself, the damaged brawler was reminded of how much his sorrow was hurting his brother and that kept him from rising out of his rut. And as bad as his days were, his nights were even worse. At night he was plagued by a familiar horror: night terrors.

One night while he slept, he dreamt that he was chasing after the screams and cries of his lost love, bounding towards her with every ounce of strength within him, launching himself deeper and deeper into the dark, malevolent woods around him, but always making the same progress. Upon reaching Summer's location, he would always see her turn to face him just as a giant mass of shadows, it's face a white mask pulsating with blood red power, it's mouth twisted into a freakish, wolf-like grin, stab her in the back, causing her blood to splatter all over him. He then woke up suddenly, his mouth forced open in a silent, wordless scream of horror and despair. The once strong protector was frozen in fear as tears of heartbreak streamed down his face as the visions played before him in his mind. After what seemed like an eternity passed, the horror subsided and all he was left with was the empty feeling of depression all over again. The only reason he got out of bed was because his body forced him too, lest he sleep in a pool of his own urine. Rising up from his bed, he moved his tired legs forward, forcing himself downstairs and to the bathroom. Upon finishing his deed, Taiyang splashed his face with water in an attempt to calm himself down. As he did so, the brawler caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Seeing the pathetic, broken down mess of a man staring back, he felt himself wrinkling his nose in disgust. _'You sure are one piece of work.'_ He thought to himself. He moved back toward his bedroom when he saw his children sleeping in their rooms, no doubt from a tiring day of wondering what the hell was wrong with their father. He also saw something moving outside. His curiosity peaked slightly, he looked outside to something big, black and vaguely humanoid shifting in the woods, making it's way toward the house. He judged it to be a Grimm and judging by the size, it was a rather powerful one.

For the first time in months, Taiyang felt something overtake his usual emptiness or sadness: fear. Specifically, fear for what the Grimm could do to his home or, Oum forbid, his children. He called out to his brother in law, trying to inform him about the approaching Grimm. Since he didn't see Qrow bounding out to fight it, he looked through the house until he found him, passed out on the couch from both heavy drinking and heavy amounts of stress. Panic sprang out from his fear upon seeing this as he knew Qrow was in no condition to fight. Meaning it was up to him to fight the Grimm and protect his family. Which would have been fine and dandy as he was trained for this kind of thing. Except he had barely moved in the last few months, let alone fight, he hadn't gotten a proper night's sleep in just as long, he'd barely eaten in the past week and Qrow had hidden his gauntlets. So fighting something stronger than a half blind Ursa wasn't a promising prospect. Even so, he marched outside and stood in the best fighting stance he could adopt at the moment, waiting for the enemy to appear out of the woods. He didn't wait long as the trees were forced apart by his soon to be opponent, a creature that made Taiyang want to crap himself.

The Grimm was a Berginel, evident by it's ape-like body and muscles, it's super sharp fangs that jetted out of it's mouth, ready to render soft human flesh from it's bones, it's powerful arms capable of smashing stone into dust and launching itself at anything it wanted and it's single red eye glaring down at him with an impossible amount of dark intelligence. Except that this monster was different from most Berginels he had fought before. While most were just the size of a full grown man, this beast stood at a full height of nearly eight feet, it's muscles were more pronounced, scars crisscrossed it's body, the fangs on it's face were sharper than most he had ever seen and doused in the blood of it's enemies and it had a back of copper red fur. The Berginel beat it's giant fists against it's hard chest and roared at Taiyang, challenging him. He felt his breath became quick and rapid, feeling the beast's shadow fall over him. In order to keep himself from running, the fist fighter launched the first punch, striking it's chest. The blow bounced off it's giant, barrel-like chest, leaving nothing but the tinniest, slim crack in the armor. The creature responded with a swift raising of it's fist, dropping it down quickly like a hammer on his left shoulder. Taiyang would have moved to block the blow but neither his body nor his mind were reading for the quick blow, forcing him to stumble to the side from it's sheer force. He had barely enough time to recover before the Berginel struck again, swinging an underhand blow with so strong it sent him flying back, up and up into the air until he landed onto the harsh, cold ground. Taiyang bounced off the ground several times before he settled on there. He attempted to rise up from the ground but he felt something scream out in pain, no doubt a damaged rib or something from the blow. Not only that, his body ached from not only the attack but his days and days of inactivity. He briefly considered just lying down on the grass and let the Grimm tear him limb from limb. Not only would he stop feeling this depression and pain but his worthless ass wouldn't endanger his family anymore. It was a win-win, not just for him but also his family.

Then a thought occurred to him as he he lied in the grass. His sadness was caused by the loss of Summer and Raven. Qrow, Yang and Ruby had also lost those two and even though they were doing better than him, they were still in mourning. If he died here, they would only get sadder and that would attract more Grimm, especially this one. The thought of his brother in law that stood by his side for so long or worse, the children that had given him so much lying dead in a pool of their own blood sent a shot of white hot fear rocketing through him, causing his body to glow ever so slightly, awakening his cold, frozen heart. He was afraid of being hurt again yes and he was even afraid of the dark future that laid ahead. But what he was more afraid of-

Was losing his family.

His heart finally starting to beat with something other than emptiness or sadness, albeit quite a bit of it was fear, he stood up onto his feet again, ignoring his body's protests. Facing the monster in front of him, he gave the best grin he could before bounding forward, his fist pulled back. Once he was in range, the Berginel swung it's fist at him. He ducked the fist and launched a series of punches into the monster ape's chest at a swift pace. Each blow left only a small crack on the monster's armor, but thanks to his speed the brawler was able to launch enough attacks to actually leave damage. The creature swatted him away, smashing him into a nearby tree to his right. His body ached from the blow but Taiyang ignored that, letting his Aura take care of his injury. He got back and leaped back at the big Berginel, striking it's arm with all his might. It swung around, attempting to strike him down with another powerful punch. But this time Taiyang was able to see it coming and braced himself for the impact, which caused the ground beneath him to crack with a thunderous boom. His aura flared up in a blinding flash of bright white as he felt a familiar warm build around him, a warmth he didn't know he missed. He countered the Grimm's attack with a quick left hook to it's jaw, whipping it's head sharply to the right. The beast roared at him, no doubt venting it's frustrations, grabbing a hold of the man a hold of him and throwing him into the nearest tree. He busted right through the tree, into three others and smashing into a fifth. Once again, Taiyang got right back up, now covered in a permanent fiery white aura. He ran back to the beast, ducked under a swipe from it and delivered a strong uppercut to it's jaw.

The Berginel seemed to get fed up with the constant blows and decided to take things up a notch, ripping up a nearby tree and holding it as a club. The fiery brawler watched in silent surprise as the monster pulled the tree back and swung. Acting on instinct, he leaped back but not far back enough to avoid the swing, sent flying again into another tree. This time, he was ready, using his impact with the tree to launch him back at the monster, zooming towards it as fast as he could. It swung the tree at him again, this time he jumped straight up into the air and landed on the monster's face with a kick. It stumbled back, swing it's club wildly, which he was able to either dodge or block. Taiyang ducked under the last swing and moved behind it just as the beast recovered from the blow, looking around for him. He took this moment to attack the monster from behind, aiming a punch directly at it's spine, causing it to growl. It tried to whip back around but Taiyang kicked it in the back of it's knees. The depressed man used what little time he bought to try and wretch the tree from it's grasp. The Berginel sensed this and began tugging back, making the wood creak. The two of them played this little game of tugging and pulling, causing the tree to creak and crack from their pressure. The fighter noticed this, and knowing he wouldn't win this war, decided to go for a draw of sort. He pulled with all his might back, throwing the monster off balance. And in a split second he slammed his fist into the middle of the tree trunk, causing it to explode in half in a shower of splinters. The two of them stumbled back, each holding a half of the tree, Taiyang holding the roots and the Berginel the branches and leaves. The two met eyes and ran at each other, trading blows with their giant wooden clubs. The Berginel slammed it's trunk into his sides and chest while the blonde swung his into it's chest and face, each swing causing a crack to thunder throughout the woods. After they traded enough blows to knock each other down quite a few times, their clubs collided with each other, showering them in splinters once more from the sheer force. The two threw away their useless weapons and returned to beating each other down with their bare hands.

They meet up with each other, pummeling each other with all their might. Their bodies maybe sore, especially Taiyang's, but they couldn't give up. They wouldn't give up. The Berginel couldn't resist the temptation to inflict despair and death on these humans. As for Taiyang, he knew he hadn't earned the right to stop. He had to keep fighting since he had stopped for so long. So they kept on fighting and fighting, launching punches and kicks like no tomorrow as their bodies screamed in pain, as his body roared in agony. But whereas the Berginel was growing weaker and weaker as the brawler's many blows took their toll, Taiyang felt his Semblance grow stronger and stronger within him. The more damage he took, the more pain he felt, the stronger and hotter the flame built inside of him, struggling to be released. But he fought to hold it inside, to force it to grow bigger and bigger. It was the only way he would be able to ensure his family's safety. He had to endure. Same as always. The battle continued on and on until the gorilla-like monstrosity grabbed a hold of Taiyang and slammed him into the ground, pounding him over and over with what little power it had left in it's body. Taiyang tried to get up or crawl away but the beast kept him in place, tenderizing his entire being endlessly. Then, as the Berginel raised it's hands to deliver the final blow, the brawler saw his opening and let his Semblance explode forth, exploding in an inferno of white and yellow that wrapped and twisted itself around him, cloaking and armoring him. The monster stumbled backwards, blinded by the new light as Taiyang rose up to his feet and gave his opponent a cocky grin. "You had your chance. Now," he slammed his fists together, causing a flare of white fire, "It's my turn."

In an instant, Taiyang ran up to the monstrous ape and let loose a series of lightning fast punches into it's cracked armor, hammering into it like hundreds of hammers all pounding away at the armor. The white plating cracked more and more, causing blood to ooze out of the cracks. The Berginel felt this and roared at him again, splattering blood and spit all over him. But the roar failed to intimidate the blazing man, so it tried to swat him away like it had done so many times before. However, the tall creature's attacks simply bounced off him, the flames seeming to protect him. The brawler smirked at seeing the Grimm's confusion and began pushing himself to strike faster and faster. This went on for minutes until the Berginel dropped down to it's knees, it's body battered and broken in every way possible. Still, it had enough determination and energy to let out another roar, which Taiyang shut up with a quick hook to the face. "Will you keep it down?" He growled at the monster, striking it;s face and increasing the intensity with each passing word, "My children. Are trying. To. Sleep!" He declared, emphasizing the last word with an uppercut, rocketing the Grimm's head off it's body and landing several feet away. The head rolled away as the body fell to the ground, already fading back into the darkness. The father looked over his handiwork, grimacing at the thought of this creature killing his family. All because of him and his stupid, childish, selfish, reckles-

He shook his head, dispelling the thoughts, "No Taiyang, you can't let those thoughts rule you anymore. You have a job to do," he started walking back to his home, mumbling to himself, "I should check out that doctor Qrow was talking about..."  
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So Taiyang went and found help far far away in the kingdom of Atlas, where a clinic specializing in grief and loss resided. For two years he left his family behind in order to get better, to overcome his depression and sadness once more. That time in his life was hell. He was forced to bring up the worst memories in his life, including those of his family and his stint in depression. Not only that, they forced him to take medication to ensure he wouldn't try to hang himself or anything, which made him feel rather weird. And worst of all, he barely had any contact with his family during those two years, meaning his kids were growing up without him. But it was all worth it to finally get back control over his life, leaving the clinic with a clean bill of health. Well, as clean as he could ever get. So with a happy smile across his face, he arrived back at home with open arms by his brother and children.

The years passed by without a hitch. … Well, as easily as it could with two rambunctious girls that insisted on bring Hunters, the single most dangerous profession in all of Remnant. Of course Taiyang was against this. His children going into the same profession that killed his second love? He would be scared out of his mind every single second of every single day until the eventual heart attack that would end him. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't bare to think of losing them, especially due to their earlier scrape with death. But his friends and brother reminded him of how much good they could do becoming Hunters, not to mention that he himself was guilty of doing the same thing to his grandfather. So with a reluctant heart and personal training from him and Qrow, he allowed his children to become Huntresses.

He taught both of his kids basic hand to hand combat, bring back old memories of his training days. But when it came time to learn the specifics, he insisted that Ruby be taught by Qrow. Unlike her sister, Ruby simply wasn't cut out to be a brawler. She did find out that she had some skill with a scythe. So while his younger daughter was taught by his brother, he personally taught his elder daughter. He taught her everything he could in the few years he had to train her. Unlike himself, Yang had no form of training before then so he had to start at a more basic level for her. And in all honesty, he could never fully bring himself to train Yang as hard as he could have. The mere fact that he was training her to be a Huntress was stressful enough for him, let alone the intense training he would have to press her through for that. Still, she was a natural talent in combat and that allowed her training to shine through. She was even able to make him stumble a couple of times.

So when it came time for them to head off to Beacon Academy, he was able to put on a confident face as he bid them farewell. A confident face that soon broke under the pressure of seeing his kids leave ad left a crying mess, holding onto his children as tightly as possible. "Promise me you'll call and write!" The male brawler blubbered as he kept a tight hold on them. Ruby and Yang tried to tell him yes but all that came out was a high pitched wheeze. The scythe wielder beside him chuckled at their expense before prying them out of his arms with all of his gaunt might. With the children freed from their father's clutches, they gave their family one last look.

"Good luck out there," Qrow wished to them, raising his closed flask in a toast like manner. Both girls smiled at his wish before looking at their father, who still trying to keep his tears in.

"Dad, could you please keep it together long enough to see us off?" Yang asked him, smiling confidently. Taiyang gathered what little composure he had left and steadied himself, giving her a less painful hug.

"Take good care of your sister," He told her.

"I know, Da-"

"That includes not ditching her immediately at Beacon." He added on, giving her a look, "You hear me Yang?"

"Yes dad," She answered, turning away from him indignant. He nodded in understanding before turning to his younger daughter, who was shuffling around nervously. Taiyang sighed internally. Of all the things she could have inherited from him why did it have to social awkwardness? He knelt over and gave Ruby one last hug before looking her in the eye.

"Ruby, don't you be scared," he told her, "You'll do very well at Beacon."

"But Dad, I don't know if I'm ready yet," Ruby said to him, "I just want to stay here with my friends and go to Beacon at the right time."

"Ruby Rose," He said, forcing her to look him in the eye, "I know things seem scary and uncertain now but you have to know that you can't let that stop you. Like it or not, rosebud, you are special. And going to Beacon can only help you realize that."

"But Dad-"

"Fear isn't something you run from Ruby. It's something you run toward." He looked up to his scruffy brother, "Isn't that right Qrow?"

The man shrugged, waving his hand, "50-50."

"Qrow!"

"Kidding Tai," He said, raising his hands in defense, "He's right kid in this case kid. If you run now, you're gonna regret it the rest of your life." Ruby sighed in defeat, accepting their words. And with one last goodbye, the two young women hopped aboard the Bullhead, promising to make them proud.

"You already have," He cried, his eyes watering up again.

"God damn it Tai, can't you keep it together for longer than five minutes?" Qrow joked, ribbing him. The two watched on as the Bullhead disappeared from sight. They watched the clouds for a moment as the crowd around the dispersed before the red eyed Huntsman looked to his adopted kin, "You scared for them Tai?"

Taiyang chuckled, "Oh yeah, even more so than always. I mean, remember how many times we almost died at Beacon, let alone the missions beyond it?" He laughed again, this time to expel his inner fear, "But Qrow, I'm not letting that control me anymore. They want to be Huntresses? Then I'll support them to the very end. Give them a home and a nice warm bed to come to when they need it."

Qrow smiled, "And I'll help ya along the way." And so the cowardly lion turned around and started walking back home, his buddy the scarecrow in tow. Scared for the ones he cared for but confident they could handle what life threw at them.  
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 **Knight Of Balance: That. Was. Exhausting. What started out as a simple one shot to get my rusty butt back in gear turned out to be my biggest stand alone by a huge margin. I mean fuck, I gotta work on making sure these thing aren't too long.**

 **Well, at least I had a lot of fun making this. I always found Taiyang to be a rather interesting character. I mean, by all rights, he should be peeing himself in fear for his kids ever day of his life seeing the world he lived in. And the beating that guy has taken. I mean, only about a third of the abuse he suffered here is me. The rest is RT being a dick. And yet he gets up in the morning and does the bets damn job he can. If that's not a testament to how strong a guy can be, I don't know what is?**

 **Well, I hoped you enjoy this! If you could, please a review giving your thoughts, especially any criticisms. I just hope I didn't go overboard with the fear or the misery.**

 **Have a nice day!**

 **P.S. Apparently I didn't make this clear but during the fight with the Berginel, Taiyang was sleep deprived, food deprived, and weaponless. That's why he was struggling.**

 **I also didn't do anything with Raven because she's a hard to pinpoint character what I can pinpoint is...not nice. So I just decided to leave that for another day.**


End file.
